Goal Line Gazette 

Empire of Victory                                                Issue #527

The Cowboys continue their march towards another championship.   

 

I know I must sound like a broken record, but how can I lead with any other story when the reigning, defending, undisputed champions remain undefeated? When I spoke with my partner on Sunday about how I thought this game would play out, I said were going to take a big lead, which we did, upwards of 90 points at times. I said they’ll start to mount a comeback at 4pm. Which they did. Then I said they’ll probably pass us during the 8pm game which they did and as long as we went into Monday night down by less than 40 points, I thought we still had a chance. We went into Monday night down by 39.5 points. I called the game exactly how it played out. The only thing that happened that I did not expect was how many points Johnathan Taylor scored. I expected Taylor to score around 60, I did not expect him to score 80 points. Jonathan Taylor is The Cowboys MVP, averaging 50.6 PPG and scoring 46+ in 6 of his 8 games. Taylor had his best game of the season scoring 79.4 points, leading The Cowboys over Dynamic Duo, 244-214. The Cowboys are now 8-0, having stacked 2 full months of wins. The Cowboys haven’t lost a game since December 9, 2024. They’ve won 11 in a row since then and are 4 wins away from breaking the all-time consecutive game win streak (set by TWB in 2013 when they went 14-0). The Cowboys have been the top team in the OSFL since week 1. They continue to have a stranglehold on the overall points lead and head into week 9 in what is being dubbed the game of the year against former partner Chris “Kon” Konturas and his Phriends of the Devil. Dynamic Duo sinks to 2-6, their season is on life support.   

 

G-Force finally got the production they expected out of Saquon Barkley who compiled 150 rush yards and 2 TD’s/75 points. G-Force went head to head with The Wolfpack who were both looking to solidify their playoff positions. The Wolfpack came in flat and got stomped on by G-Force, 252-165. G-Force also surged late to steal the weekly high score from G’ss Mafia. G-force improved to 5-3 and hold a 1 point lead over XXXL for 2nd place in overall points. The Wolfpack falls to 4-4, but they remain in 4th place and still hold a solid 2 game lead over Dynamic Duo who are currently in 5th place. G’ss Mafia missed out on the weekly high score (by less than 2 points) but they still dominated TWB who are drowning in injuries, 251-157. G’ss Mafia improves to 5-3 and remain in 3rd place in the Metro West division. TWB has lost 5 in a row and own the worst record in the OSFL at 1-7 with the 12th ranked offense. Led by MVP candidate Patrick Mahomes, XXXL rallied late to stop Allbrite Picks, 233-228, in a come from behind victory on Monday night. It was huge win for XXXL who continue to lead the Metro West division with a 5-3 record. Allbrite Picks falls to 3-5 but catch themselves in 4th place in the ever changing Metro West division. Phriends of the Devil kept pace with XXXL, by beating 3 All The Way, 237-170, improving to 5-3. POTD have been locked in a record tie with XXXL for weeks as they try to chip away at the points deficit that currently has then trailing by 120 points, for control of 1st place in the Metro West division. Phriends of the Devil have 2 crucial games over the next 2 weeks against both first place teams - The Cowboys in week 9 and XXXL in week 10. 3 All The Way suddenly find themselves in last place at 3-5. Showtime snapped a 3 game losing streak, beating Bronx Swag, 222-177. The win vaulted Showtime into third place at 4-4. Bronx Swag falls to 3-5, alive but in a battle to get back into playoff contention                

 

The Cowboys magic number for the Southern Comfort division title is 3 wins and points. If the current trend continues, it’s going to be difficult for anyone, even G-Force to catch them. The magic number for TWB to be eliminated is 3 losses. We have 6 weeks remaining. One win or one loss can be the difference between hope and desperation. The pressure is about to get turned up a notch as we head into November.                                  

 

Games of the Week: Week 9

Season (18-18)

 

Phriends of the Devil (5-3) Vs The Cowboys (8-0)

This is the most hyped up game of the year. Former championship partners, both part of the reigning championship team square off in a game that’s more than a game. I don’t think in Kon’s wildest dreams he foresaw himself leaving The Cowboys and they go on to start their season undefeated at 8-0. Kon wants a huge chunk of the credit for The Cowboys 2024 championship season and he deserves credit. When I asked Ron Zednik for a comment about this game, he told me, “He helped make us better, I thank him for that.” There was no cocky answer or overconfidence, just a classy nod to former teammate. The type of answer that could actually strike a little fear into an opponent. The Cowboys don’t need this game, not like Phriends of the Devil do. If POTD has any division title aspirations, this is a must win game against the reigning, defending, undisputed, undefeated championship team he was once part of. The Cowboys come in at 8-0 with the #1 ranked offense. The Cowboys could lose the next 3 games and still hold first place when Thanksgiving rolls around. This is not a fluke. On the contrary, this is a juggernaut who may have taken their foot off the gas a bit and seen a slight dip in production recently, but are capable of an offensive explosion in a moments notice. Yes, The Cowboys have issues with Chuba Hubbard losing his job to Rico Dowdle and whatever is going on with the  Seattle backfield, but they have other avenues to success via WR’s and TE’s.  Far be it for me to tell the undefeated champions what to do, but obtaining Emanuel Wilson by any means necessary would be at the top of my priority list. The Cowboys flew without a net last year and it worked out. They did not buy insurance last year and they got away with it. Both of these teams want this victory just to say they beat the other but this is must win territory for POTD, because next week they enter the same must win scenario against XXXL. Phriends of the Devil has come to the crossroads. Kon needs to check his ego about how much credit he deserves regarding the Cowboys past success and concentrate on how to win over the next month. We will either see POTD turn on the afterburners, prove to us and themselves that they’re the team they think they are and usurp control of the Metro West division or they’re going to get lost in the pack. POTD are a very good team that has yet to show us the full potential of this offenses capabilities and we may not see their amps cranked to 11 this week because they’re dealing with some pretty substantial BYE’s in week 9. They’re losing Rachaad White and DeVonte Smith, who’ve combined to average 43 PPG. The Cowboys only significant BYE is TE Dallas Goedert who has been in and out of this line up all year long. POTD might have added a huge piece to their arsenal in Orande Gadsden II who has scored 138 points over the last 3 games/46 PPG. There’s no telling if he can continue this torrid pace but what we’ve seen thus far from Gadsden are shades of Antonio Gates. Rome Odunze is one of the lone stud sophomore season WR’s still standing and by far the most productive. Odunze has made that leap you want to see in year 2. I wasn’t buying the Javonte Williams hype but I was wrong. Williams has been phenomenal all year long. The rest of the guys in this line up (Parker Washington, Tetairoa McMillan vs Green Bay and Elic Ayomanor) are dart throws. POTD absolutely needs their 2 biggest stars Josh Allen and Jahmyr Gibbs to play to their capabilities and expectations and they have not. Gibbs had a season high 65 points last time out, but he’s failed to break 30 points in 70% of his games this season. I will say this, Gibbs is a Vikings killer. In 4 career games he’s scored 9 TD’s, including a 139 rush yard/4 TD performance last time out, but that was without David Montgomery in the line up. Josh Allen hasn’t looked good in October. Josh Allen faces a KC Chiefs team he is 4-1 against in the regular season and 0-4 in the playoffs. During the regular season, Allen has combined to run/throw for 13 TD’s in 5 games and he has run a lot, averaging 10 runs and 44 yards for his career against the Chiefs. They need 100+ points out of Allen/Gibbs. Expect Dak Prescott to get back on track. Dak is 5-1 on Monday night football and 2-1 against the Cardinals for his career. He averages 2+ TDs on MNF and 2 TD per game vs Arizona. One thing I notice in the Cowboys line up is Jordan Addison on the bench. I told POTD the same thing a couple weeks ago, if you’re not going to start DeVonte Smith every week then you should trade him. If you’re not going to start Addison every week you should trade him. He’s either hit his 100+ yard bonus or scored a TD in all 4 games he’s played in 2025. Addison doesn’t have great history against the Lions but you have to live and die with a guy like this unless you totally don’t trust JJ McCarthy, which is a valid concern moving forward.  We can say this guy deserves MVP consideration or that guy deserves MVP consideration. Through 8 games, Jonathan Taylor is the MVP of the 2025 season. He’s averaging 50 PPG and is the #3 overall point scorer, only Justin Herbert/52 PPG and Patrick Mahomes/51.3 PPG have scored more points in 2025. Gibbs isn’t remotely close to Taylor’s production. Taylor is outscoring Josh Allen. Johnathan Taylor has scored 46+ points 6 times this season. Josh Jacobs may not be 100% but he could hit his 100 yard bonus and score multiple TD’s by halftime against the Swiss cheese defense of the Carolina Panthers. If you think Jake Ferguson is in line for another zero, you got another thing coming. There are levels to this game. Compared to the bottom of POTD’s starting lineup, Kenneth Walker, Stefon Diggs and DK Metcalf are on a whole other level. Kon is about to meet the King Maker. Kon has to realize that he was not the straw that stirred the drink but a replaceable cog in the Cowboys ever changing roster of owners. I’ve watched it for 30 years. Kon was the 4th incarnation of a hood ornament on a Rolls Royce. Vin Roc is the 5th and the beat goes on. I am a true believer. If The Cowboys can stay healthy, which we are a long way from the finish line, but if they can, it’s going to be tough for anyone to beat them. I still think they’re going to lose games, just not this one. I’m not saying Phriends of the Devil have no chance. Any given Sunday. There are always paths to victory. POTD will play tough but The Cowboys are on a historic run. There’s just too much firepower here. The Cowboys remain undefeated.  

     

G’ss Mafia (5-3) Vs The XXXL 69ers (5-3)

G’ss Mafia is on fire, having won 4 of their last 5 games. They’re tied with G-Force for the second best record in the Southern Comfort division. Bo Nix has compiled 8 TD’s over his last 2 games, averaging 59 PPG. JK Dobbins had a seasonal high of 111 rush yards and scored 33.6 points. Dobbins has compiled 633 rush yards which currently ranks 3rd best in the NFL. Dobbins currently ranks as the 18th best RB. They both face a tough Houston Texans defense. The Texans allow the fewest points of any defense to the QB position, just 27 PPG. Jared Goff has 3 career 300+ yard games at home vs the Vikings, but the Minnesota pass defense has allowed the 4th least pass yards compared to Houston allowing the 3rd fewest pass yards in 2025. Both are tough match ups in week 9. Rico Dowdle has rushed for the 5th most rush yards this season and could be overtaking Chubba Hubbard as the Panthers RB1. Dowdle is averaging 28 PPG, but he’s only hit that number twice this season. Most of Dowdle’s production came over a 2 game stretch. Dowdle faces the Packers who’ve allowed the 2nd least rush yards this season. G’ss Mafia’s WR group has massive names but is one of the least stable groups in the OSFL. Justin Jefferson put up decent numbers with Carson Wentz but he was placed on IR, so the Vikings are turning back to JJ McCarthey which only intensifies Jefferson’s instability. Brian Thomas Jr. has scored 16.1+ points in a game once this season. Thomas has been one of the biggest disappointments of the year. Marvin Harrison Jr. has yet to hit a bonus and has scored just 2 TD’s. Harrison Jr has failed to surpass 10.4 points in a game 4 times this season. Jameson Williams has logged 2 or fewer receptions in 5 of 7 games. He caught zero passes in his last game. Kyle Pitts has been a bright spot at TE, averaging 18.5 PPG, scoring 20+ points in 3 of his last 4 games. G’ss Mafia loses Breece Hall to his BYE. Hall had his best game of the season in week 8. 

XXXL has not won back to back games since week 1 & 2. They’re currently in first place in the Metro West division. Led by Patrick Mahomes who in the midst of is 5th consecutive 50+ point game. After throwing just 3 TD’s in his first 3 games, he’s thrown 14 TD’s over his last 5 games and is tied with Matthew Stafford for the NFL lead 17 TD passes. In 5 career games against the Bills, Mahomes averages 260+ yards and 2 TD’s. Devon Achane/33.4 PPG ranks second with 37 receptions and leads all RB’s with 4 receiving TD’s. Achane’s 2 highest scoring games of the season have come at home. He’s home this week against Baltimore who has been exploited all season long. After a hot September, Travis Etienne has gone ice cold in October, failing to reach 50 yards rushing or 20 points scored this month. Tyrone Tracy moves back into the starting role for the Giants now that Cam Skattebo suffered a nasty dislocated foot ending his season and possibly his career. Tracy was very good last year but failed to gain traction this season prior to this opportunity. Tracy has failed to rush for 50 yards in any game and only has 1 TD score in 2025. Amon-Ra St. Brown continues to be one of the most consistent players in the game, averaging 32.3 PPG, scoring at least 28.6 points in 5 of his last 6 games. In 8 career games against the Vikings, St. Brown has never logged a game worse than 6-73, while scoring 4 total TD’s. It’s week 9, he’s 32 years old and in his 12th season but Davante Adams is the #12 WR, meaning he’s technically still a WR1 averaging 22.7 PPG. Tee Higgins has scored a TD in 3 of his last 4 games. In 8 career games vs Buffalo, Travis Kelce has hit 2 bonuses, a double bonus and scored 4 TD’s. XXXL has no significant BYE’s in week 9, but they’re coming soon. G’ss mafia has some brutal match ups which could lead to a loss of cabin pressure and another drastic drop in production. Remember, this team has logged the highest score of the season and the 2 lowest scores of the year. There’s been no stability in this offense from week to week. They’ve had 5 consecutive 90+ point weekly swings up and down and you can see another drop coming. XXXL might be trading wins and losses over the last month and half, but their offense has been nothing but consistent, scoring between 227 and 276 over 5 consecutive games, including 233+ in 3 consecutive weeks. I think consistency will win out and that means XXXL should prevail this week. 

  

 

Allbrite Picks (3-5) Vs G-Force (5-3)

Allbrite Picks has dropped 4 of their last 5, their loss last week was a heartbreaker against XXXL, losing by 5.5 points. Allbrite Picks also scored more points against The Cowboys than any other team (272 points), but still took an L. Allbrite Picks only victory during this stretch was a weekly high score in week 6 against TWB. Allbrite has the second most points in the division, which has kept them in 4th place with a 3-5 record. Jayden Daniels has missed 3 games this season, but returns this week in prime time on Sunday night. Derrick Henry has strung together three consecutive 30+ point games. King Henry helped Allbrite Picks jump out to a 33 point lead and surpassed 12,000 career rushing yards in the process. Rookie RJ Harvey had a 3 TD performance last week on only 9 touches. It remains to be seen if Harvey will receive more usage going forward. JK Dobbins is the 3rd leading rusher in the NFL at the moment. Emanuel Wilson received a season high 14 touches last week and scored 20 points. Wilson could continue to be part of a heavy rotation if Josh Jacobs isn’t 100%. Wilson is a player the Cowboys should’ve come for. He’s not worth much when Jacobs is healthy but when he’s not there aren’t many handcuffs who carry more value than Wilson. Drake London missed last weeks game but is expected to play against the Patriots. George Pickens has regressed since CeeDee Lamb’s return. In the 4 games Lamb was out, Pickens hit 2 - 100+ yard bonuses, scored 5 TD’s and averaged 41.2 PPG. In the 2 games since Lamb’s return, Pickens has no bonuses, no TD’s and he’s averaging 19 PPG. That’s over 50% reduction in production. Nothing has slowed Chris Olave down in 2025. Olave is the 2nd most targeted WR this season with 83 targets and he’s 3rd with 52 receptions. Olave is averaging 22 PPG. Tucker Kraft overtook Jake Ferguson as the #1 overall highest scoring TE with the best game of his career (7-143 and 2 TD’s/67.3 points), but more than that, Kraft solidified himself as one of the top consistent TE options moving forward. Kraft was the 11th TE drafted in round 8 of the 2025 draft. Kraft will make an enticing keeper option or his draft stock could soar into the 3rd or 4th round in 2026. Allbrite Picks only significant BYE is Emeka Egbuka, but the rookie has seen his production pullback drastically over the last 3 weeks of October. 

G-Force has won 2 in a row for the second time this season. G-Force has scored 239+ points 6 times this season and currently have the #2 overall offense. The trend currently shows that G-Force has 2 good weeks (239+ points) and then one bad week (sub 200 point score). If the trend continues, week 9 is a bad week for G-Force. But how much faith can we actually put into trends? The trend is your friend until it’s not. G-Force has 2 major BYE’s in week 9, losing their top 2 RB’s Saquon Barkley/31.5 PPG and Quinshon Judkins/26.4 PPG. With a single BIG game, Barkley shot into the top 10 RB’s for the first time in a while. G-Forces loses 58 points of consistent production. Don Guenette needs #1 overall point scorer Justin Herbert/52 PPG to continue to produce like a fireworks warehouse exploded. From 2023 thru 2024, Kyren Williams scored 31 TD’s in 28 games, that’s 1.1 TD’s per game. In 2025, he’s scored 5 TD’s in 7 games down to 0.71 TD’s per game. Williams also hit 10 - 100+ yard bonuses over that 2 year span, he has zero in 2025. It’s a little sad to watch the demise of Alvin Kamara. The 30 year old Kamara’s usage has sunk to minuscule amounts. Over his last 4 games, Kamara’s touches has dwindled from 12, to 15, to 14, to 8 touches. Kamara hasn’t had as few as 8 touches in a game since his rookie season. His production also sank to a season low 11.5 points. I’m not saying Kamara couldn’t have a bounce back game, I’m saying no one lasts forever and for most RB’s the fall off the cliff is sudden and drastic. He’s 2 years past when most RB’s begin to see a major decline (28 years old). Rashee Rice is a much welcomed addition to G-Forces offense. Rice has produced back to back 32+ point games since returning from his suspension. The only thing that worries me about Rice is his Antonio Brown-like arrogance which is on full display when he plays. I can see a train wreck coming from miles away. I’m not saying it will happen this week, this month, this year, 5 years from now. I don’t know when it will happen but this train does go off the tracks at some point. See this is the Deebo Samuel I got last year. It’s crazy to me how so many players put up a ridiculous amount of production one month and then disappear the next. In September Deebo was averaging 23.4 PPG. In October he’s averaging 16.6 PPG including a game he missed which is essentially a zero. Deebo has scored 10 points, DNP and 7 points over the last 3 weeks. Compared to how he looked earlier this season it’s been a disaster, but Jayden Daniels has returned and the calendar has turned to November so maybe Deebo gets back on track. DJ Moore has been a major disappointment in 2025, averaging 14.5 PPG, compared to 22.1 PPG from a year ago. That’s over a 30% drop in production. Moore has yet to score 20 points in any game this season. Khalil Shakur had his best game of the season last week, scoring 30.8 points. Shakur has scored a TD in 3 of his last 5 games and is averaging 20.6 PPG during that span. For the first time since week 4, Brock Bowers will step onto a football field. It’s hard to know what to expect from Bowers, but he has played the Jaguars once in his career (last year), recording 11 catches for 99 yards. He set the NFL rookie record with 100 catches for a TE in that game last December. This has to be go time for Bowers. I think G-Force is a very good team that could do some serious damage once the playoffs roll around, but they enter this game without their 2 best RB’s and Allbrite Picks is at peak strength as they welcome back Jayden Daniels. Allbrite has caught a formidable opponent in a weak spot. By record this would appear as an upset, but Allbrite Picks does have the 5th ranked overall offense. I’m taking Allbrite Picks for the win.                                                  

 

Dynamic Duo (2-6) Vs Bronx Swag (3-5) 

Bronx Swag jumped out to an early 93 point lead led by the return of Lamar Jackson/51.1 points,Jaylen Waddle/20.2 points and Mark Andrews/21.6 points. Swag is dealing with BYE’s to Garrett Wilson and Tez Johnson and an injury to Calvin Ridley. Frankie & Ed will look to their RB’s to secure victory. Christian McCaffrey is coming off his worst game of the season. It was CMC’s lowest usage - 11 touches and production - 16.8 points. Chase Brown has had his 2 best games of the 2025 season over the last 2 weeks, scoring 30.3 and 36.5 points. Tony Pollard is vanilla ice cream. Stale vanilla ice cream, with freezer burn. My man is slipping. Pollard hasn’t compiled 100 rush yards over the course of his last 3 games, having failed to crack 45 rush yards, averaging a hair under 16 PPG during this span. Pollard is dealing with a neck injury. Due to all of the injuries and BYE’s Dyami Brown will be forced into action. Brown is averaging less than 10 PPG for the season. Theo Johnson didn’t do much last week, but prior to being picked up, he scored in 3 of his previous 4 games. The Giants are dealing with massive quantities of injuries forcing usage in Johnson’s direction. 

Dynamic Duo have no significant BYE’s but are dealing with a multitude of injuries. The biggest is the sudden deactivation of their top RB D’Andre Swift/30 PPG which is a major loss. Ricky “Pussy” Pearsall came back quicker from a gun shot wound than he did from a hamstring injury. Pearsall is about to miss his 5 consecutive week with no return date in site. Joe Flacco is also questionable with a shoulder injury. Omarion Hampton has been out for a month, but Kimani Vidal has exceed expectations, rushing for 2 - 100 yard games and 2 TD’s over his last 3 games, averaging 35.3 PPG. Rookie Jacorey Croskey-Merritt and Brashard Smith combined for 9.3 points last week. Smith should see a bump in usage with Isiah Pacheco OUT and week to week. JCM hasn’t done much the last few weeks, but his 59.8% success rate of 1st downs, is the highest success rate of any RB in the NFL who has played in 8 games. It doesn’t matter. He needs to be more productive. Dynamic Duo is counting on these 2 young backs to produce much more than they did a week ago. Duo may turn back to Caleb Williams in a game that pits Williams against Joe Flacco. Ja’Marr Chase has caught 10+ passes in 3 consecutive games, compiling 38 receptions/averaging a hair under 13 catches per game. Chase is Flacco’s go to WR. Chase leads the NFL with 70 receptions.  Michael Pittman Jr has caught a TD in 6 of his 8 games. Pittman Jr. is averaging 22PPG and is currently the 14th best WR in the game. Tre Tucker/20.7 PPG returns from his BYE. Dynamic Duo’s newest weapon, Trey McBride/27.7 PPG also returns from his BYE. I thought Dynamic Duo had a really good chance to beat Bronx Swag, until D’Andre Swift was declared OUT. Losing 30 PPG  and replacing him with complete uncertainty (Brashard Smith) is a crushing blow to overcome. The lack of availability from Rickey Pearsall is really starting to hurt Duo. Bronx Swag is less than 100% and Dynamic Duo has yet to score below 212 points in any game, but I fall back to, you are what your record says you are. It doesn’t matter that we’re ranked 4th in points and Swag is ranked 8th, we’re not winning games. Both teams need this game badly. Painfully, I’m taking Bronx Swag to win.                               

 

The Wolfpack (4-4) Vs. 3 All The Way (3-5) 

3 All The Way have lost 3 in a row and are in a death spiral that they need to pull out of before it’s too late. They should finally get their best player - Puka Nacua back after he was injured in week 6, missed week 7 and was on his BYE last week. Puka was averaging 47.5 PPG over his first 5 games of the season. He is a sight for sore eyes at camp 3ATW. Puka in the line up makes this a different team and if AJ Brown can return after his BYE, now their  cooking with gas. I’m going to state the obvious but it’s hard to be consistent when your stars aren’t in the line up. They do lose Isiah Pacheco this week, but this will actually work in their favor. When Pacheco went down last yeah, Kareem Hunt produced like an RB1. He will have to contend with Brashard Smith. Let’s not ignore that Hunt is 30 years old, but at minimum Hunt should see 50% of the touches which could translate into a seasonal high for touches in week 9. 3ATW also gets top RB Ashton Jeanty back from his midseason BYE. Jeanty had his worst usage/production game prior to the BYE against KC. His week 9 opponent (Jacksonville) allows less rush yards than KC. Coming out of the BYE, Jeanty and the Raiders hopefully look better than they have. Bam Knight has at least one more chance to establish himself as a part of the Arizona Cardinals run game. Knight has a tremendous matchup against The Dallas Cowboys. The Cardinals run game has been so fragmented that no RB has compiled more than 35 rush attempts in 2025. Knights does lead the Cardinals with 2 rushing TD’s despite his limited playing time. After a steady start, Courtland Sutton has become inconsistent over his last 3 games. Sutton averaged 24.5 PPG over his first 5 games, but just 13.7 over the last 3 games. Sutton faces a tough Texans defense in Houston. Kayshon Boutte has scored 4 TD’s over his last 3 games. Rookie Chimere Dike has scored 23 points in back to back games. There is a possibility that the Tennessee Titans, a team that’s going nowhere attempts to find out what they have in rookie QB Cam Ward and allow him to throw the ball a lot over the second half of the season. There are worse dart throws than Dike. Why Dalton Kincaid didn’t put up BIG numbers against Carolina is a mystery. TJ Hockenson didn’t put up bad numbers while Carson Wentz was the QB, but now that JJ McCarthy is starting, it might be best to take a wait and see approach moving forward. Jalen Hurts is on his BYE, so 3ATW will roll with CJ Stroud who last week had his highest yardage total and first 300 yard bonus since week 5 of 2024. Stroud also tied a career high 30 completions. Houston has only lost 1 game at home this season. Stroud’s uptick in production could continue in week 9. 

The Wolfpack pulled off a string of impressive victories in weeks 5 thru 7, beating division rival TWB and the two top teams in the Metro West division (Phriends of the Devil and XXXL) in succession. Last week they got dropped by G-Force. As far as offensive match ups go these are two relatively close teams on paper, but The Wolfpack enters this contest with some major BYE’s. The biggest of them is starting QB Baker Mayfield/41 PPG. Mayfield’s numbers have dropped off the last couple of weeks primarily because his top 2 WR’s MIke Evans and Chris Godwin have been hurt. He’ll be replaced by Geno Smith who has thrown 1 TD over his last 3 games. Smith and the Raiders come out of the BYE to face the Jaguars who are very good against the run but can be thrown on and the Raiders should have their top receiving target TE Brock Bowers back. If nothing else, Jaylen Warren has been dependable. Warren only has 1 TD and 1 - 100 yard game but he’s averaging 17 touches per game, which if he continues on this pace will put him well beyond his career high 210 touches. Warren currently ranks as the 22nd most productive RB averaging 22 PPG. Wolfpack has the Texans backfield of Woody Marks/16.2 PPG and Nick Chubb/16.3 PPG. Both are serviceable, Marks has played better lately averaging 23.6 PPG over his last 4 games including a sub 6 point dud in week 5. Aaron Jones returned last week but was eased into action, compiling just 7 touches. Jones’s usage should get ramped up moving forward. This is as deep as The Wolfpack has been at RB all season. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been a terror all season long. JSN leads the NFL with 819 receiving yards and 5 - 100 yard games. JSN is the only WR averaging 40 PPG. In the 4 games CeeDee Lamb has played in, he’s averaging 34.8 PPG. Keenan Allen is 33 years old playing in his 13th year and at the half way point of the season he’s averaging 22.7 PPG, ranking as the 11th best WR in the league which means he’s still playing at a WR1 level. What else can you say but he’s incredible. Ladd McConkey was awful in September averaging 12.4 PPG, but as soon as the calendar turned to October, McConkey is playing like a WR1 averaging 29 PPG. This is the most productive group of WR’s in the OSFL. The Wolfpack has 4 TE’s but 3 of them (Njoku, Fannin Jr. and Cade Otten) are on BYE’s. Even Engram has had a slow start to the season but he’s ramped up production lately. Engram averaged a putrid 7.4 PPG in September but has doubled his average to 14.9 PPG in October. I think this game could be close but to me the deciding factor is the depth and potential firepower of The Wolfpack’s WR’s. Even with the return of Puka Nacua, if any team has the talent to nullify him it’s the Wolfpack. Stroud should outclass Geno Smith and Kareem Hunt could deliver an RB1 performance one more time, but all of The Wolfpack’s WR’s have 30+ point possibilities with the capabilities to do much more damage than that. I’ll take The Wolfpack for the win.       

         

Showtime (4-4) Vs. Two Weeks of Bacon (1-7)

Showtime snapped a 3 game losing streak last week with a BIG victory over Bronx Swag. They will look to make it 2 in a row against TWB who own the worst record (1-7) and lowest ranked offense in the OSFL. Showtime has no major BYE’s and get Matthew Stafford back from his week 8 BYE. Stafford is tied with Patrick Mahomes for most (17) TD passes, but Stafford has played in one less game. Bijan Robinson went from looking like the best RB in the world 2 weeks ago to a pile of dog vomit last week against Miami. Robinson logged his lowest (12) touch total and lowest combined (48) total yardage total since his rookie season of 2023. Bijan will look to get back on track this week but it wont be easy against the Patriots who’ve allowed the third lowest rushing yards this season. Bijan has 4 - 100+ yard bonuses (2 rush and 2 receiving) but he has also failed to crack 40 rush yards in a game 3 times this season. James Cook set a career high with 216 rush yards in week 8 and moved into 2nd place for the season with 753 rush yards, trailing only Jonathan Taylor’s 850 rush yards. Zach Charbonnet returns from his BYE. He has been very TD dependent. Showtime’s WR group of Wandale Robinson, Jakobi Meyers and Christian Watson is weak. There’s no way around it, this is the soft underbelly of Showtime’s armor. There are only 4 non-QB rookies averaging more points than Tyler Warren’s 23 PPG (Jeanty/26.8, Cam Skattebo/26.4, Emeka Egbuka 25.6 and Quinshon Judkins/23.1).

Nothing has gone TWB’s way in 2025. It’s easy to forget but this team lost the championship game in Fantasy Bowl XXIX last year. TWB has lost 5 in a row and failed to crack 200 points since week 5. They lost Malik Nabers early and we all watched in horror as the aforementioned Skattebo’s right foot twisted the wrong way last week. He is also done for the year at least. 6th round pick Kaleb Johnson has been a disaster scoring a total of 10.8 points thru 8 weeks. It does appear that TWB has had a few things go their way in week 9. Rhamondre Stevenson and D’Andre Swift have been ruled OUT for week 9, opening the door for rookies TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Morangai to get extensive usage. David Montgomery’s production has slipped recently but he does have 6 career TD’s against the Vikings. TWB gets Nico Collins back after missing only 1 game due to a concussion. Collins face a Denver defense that will be without the reigning defensive player of the year Patrick Surtain II. Josh Downs is usually solid but inconsistent. He’s sandwiched a zero between TD scoring games. Jauan Jennings has had a disastrous 2025 season, averaging 11.4 PPG that he’s played in, compared to last season when he averaged 24.6 PPG. Last week, George Kittle had his best game of the season scoring 19.3 points. TWB needs Kittle to give them more. The star of this offense has been Patriots QB Drake Maye who is currently ranked as the 7th best QB, averaging 46 PPG. I think QB is relatively even in this one. Both of Showtime’s top 5 RB’s have tough match ups. TWB needs both of their rookie RB’s who are in golden opportunities to deliver. If TreVeyon Henderson doesn’t get 15+ touches and score 25+ points this week, how do you ever start him again? Nico Collins has the capability to outscore all 3 of Showtime’s WR’s combined. I’m not saying he will, but he could. You can’t look past anyone in this game. I think this game is going to be a lot tighter than Showtime wants it to be. I haven’t called many upsets this season, but I’m calling one here. It’s now or never for TWB. If nothing else they should score their highest score in many weeks. I’m talking TWB to win a close one. 

 

                             

Weekly High Scores

Week 1: G-Force - 255

Week 2: The Cowboys - 329

Week 3: Bronx Swag - 270

Week 4: The Cowboys 297

Week 5: G’ss Mafia - 331

Week 6: Allbrite Picks - 326

Week 7: Dynamic Duo - 284

Week 8: G-Force - 252