WRBL Week 3, 2018 Recap

Wisconsin Rapids Bro League

Week 3
Our 4th official season of blaming Cole Walters for mirages.


Current Standings (with regular season won-loss streaks)
Steven Nett Division

Team Easy Breesy (Ryan Dougherty) 3-0 W6
The Scottfather (Scott Aschebrook) 2-1 W1
Team ChowHounds (Darrin Aschebrook) 2-1 W1
Cole World (Cole Walters) 1-2 L2

Shooter McGavin Division
Tax Paying Homeowner (Alec Swanson) 2-1 W2
Perfectly Balanced (Nick Zurawski) 1-2 L1
Crazy Todd's Driveway Band (Andy Todd) 1-2 L1
SNEEN MACHINE (Tyler Sneen) 0-3 L3

Week Three Final Scores

SCOTT  128 COLE  123
ALEC  129 ANDY  117
DARRIN  133 SNEEN  86
RYAN  155 NICK  117

Heroes of the Week: QB Matt Ryan (Alec), QB Drew Brees (Ryan), RB Alvin Kamara (Darrin)

USA TODAY Sports
Hero of the Week: QB Matt Ryan (Tax Paying Homeowner)

Waiver Wonders: WR Calvin Ridley (39 points), WR Jordy Nelson (29), QB Josh Allen (26)

(Curtis Compton/AP)
Waiver Wonder: WR Calvin Ridley (7 catches, 146 yards, 3 Touchdowns)

Upcoming Week 4 Match-ups & NFL Schedule (in CT)

Scott vs. Darrin

Alec vs. Ryan

Andy vs. Nick

Sneen vs. Cole

Thursday: Minnesota @ LA Rams 7:20 PM

Sunday: Cincinnati @ Atlanta NOON

Tampa Bay @ Chicago NOON

Detroit @ Dallas NOON

Buffalo @ Green Bay NOON

Philadelphia @ Tennessee NOON

Houston @ Indianapolis NOON

Miami @ New England NOON

NY Jets @ Jacksonville NOON

Cleveland @ Oakland 3:05 PM

Seattle @ Arizona 3:05 PM

New Orleans @ NY Giants 3:25 PM

San Francisco @ LA Chargers 3:25 PM

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh 7:20 PM

Monday: Kansas City @ Denver 7:15 PM

Bye Weeks: Washington & Carolina

Bro...

After three weeks, there are still some shocking things that have held up and surprising results that are likely in no way indicative of the season going ahead. Shocking things that continue to fascinate us so far include Ryan Fitzpatrick (Woah ho ho Fitzmagic. You know. NEVER BELIEVE IT'S NOT SO!) tossing the pigskin for over 400 yards in three consecutive games, resulting in the possible benching of no-longer-suspended Jameis Winston. Another player making headlines on a weekly basis is Chiefs' QB Patrick Mahomes, who has set the NFL record for touchdowns (13) thrown through the first three weeks of the regular season. I guess waiting the longest to draft a quarterback in the WRBL wasn't the worst move, even if it's only gotten me one victory so far. Another fact of the early season that has surprised many is just how bad the Houston Texans are. At 0-3 and with no offensive line to speak of, it's been a rough road for DeShaun Watson so far and Bill O'Brien is a pretty safe bet for those first coach fired pools. There are also some teams struggling that seem like false red flags. For instance, Tom Brady has looked mediocre on account of his decimated receiving corps and the Patriots have looked even lesser as a team (1-2, tied for 2nd in the AFC East). Will Bill Belichick figure this team out and glue together a team for a playoff run? Of course he will but, that doesn't automatically silence the Miami Dolphins. The Cardinals are pretty terrible at 0-3 but, there just has to be better days ahead for 1st round fantasy RB David Johnson. Sure, it'll be difficult for the former star to top 100 yards rushing weekly when his team is always playing from behind. Still, there should be a whole lot more of David Johnson involved in the Cardinals' passing game with how much that team enjoys checking down for short passes despite a fast receiving group.

USA TODAY Sports
Better days are ahead for David Johnson, coming back from his 2017 wrist injury.

We are also three weeks into the WRBL season and again, it's too soon to make any proclamations based on this small a sample size of the 2018 season. The only thing I feel comfortable saying right now is that Tyler Sneen and his machine are rusty enough that his 0-3 start should be too much to overcome, especially after his lack of confidence in the team he drafted was evident on draft night. The waiver wire is an excellent source for missing puzzle pieces (RB hurt? Just find a Matt Breida or Phillip Lindsay) but, you can't count on free agency to help you find the entire box the puzzle comes pre-packaged in (Josh Gordon and Ryan Fitzpatrick might be flashy but, they're not to be trusted on a weekly basis going forward). On the opposite end, Ryan now sits at 3-0 and at this point, we should just ban him. Really though, why did we let him pair up Michael Thomas with Julio Jones AND Todd Gurley? The rest of the league needs at least one of those players injured for any shot at Ryan not getting at least a top-2 seed in the playoffs and you know your season is in a bleak spot if you're rooting for opposing injuries. Ryan's win over Nick should have been a close, exciting match but as Nick Zurawski was quoted this week, "He got me. That fucking Ryan boomed me. He's so good. He's so good. He's so good. He's so good.". The PTSD Z is going to suffer through going forward is already apparent. Team Easy Breesy rode their three best players and a 39-point explosion from QB Drew Brees to a 38-point win. Alec benefited even greater from that Saints-Falcons shootout as his QB Matt Ryan also dropped 39 in what was just a 12-point victory over Crazy Todd's Driveway Band. For comparison's sake, not even THE GOAT Ryan Tannehill and his 25 points would have been enough to beat me but, that Matt Ryan fucking boomed me. The beneficiary of Sneen's struggles this week was Darrin's Team ChowHounds (now 2-1). The eldest Aschebrook didn't need 133 points against the SNEEN MACHINE's 86 but, the madman did it anyways. Lastly in our most intense match of the week, The temperature of Cole's waters are heated after all his smack talk on Thursday night resulted in another win for the Aschebrook family, with Scott completing a 19-point comeback on Monday night thanks to Mike Evans' 25 points in a comeback attempt by Tampa Bay (they barely failed 27-30). We're still a bit away from separating the men from the Moons but, Ryan and Sneen have an empty column in the Won-Loss columns and for their fortunes to change, the rest of the league needs to change a bit as well.

Mark LoMoglio/AP
JuJu Smith-Schuster was Tyler's top scorer for the week with just 20 points.

Coming up on next week's WRBL Recap, Sneen vs. Cole in a meeting of the last two MoonBak Sacko losers, Andy vs. Nick in a loser-has-a-difficult-time-coming-back-to-town matchup, Scott vs. Darrin in the classic father-son matchup that only occurs (does the math) 2+ times a season for this specific duo and lastly, the two division leaders try to unseat each other from their respective thrones as 3-0 Team Easy Breesy takes on the 2-1 Tax Paying Homeowner himself, Alec Swanson. I guess a loss for either one will be a huge relief for three of us lesser (for the moment) owners. In the NFL, this Vikings-Rams game might be the best one in Thursday Night history. A Viking loss would put them at 1-2-1 with no ease ahead as they play the defending champion Eagles in week 5. On Sunday, Dolphins-Patriots is suddenly the biggest game of the NFL season because New England going 1-3? That would be HUGE. Unfortunately, nothing San Francisco does is huge anymore as now QB C.J. Beathard will have to take over for Jimmy Garoppolo, who tore his ACL last week. The Chargers should have a much easier time against the 49ers but, these are the LA Chargers we're talking about and inconsistency is their middle name ("injured reserve" is just a nickname). The weekend caps off with our first experience of Patrick Mahomes in primetime football. How will he hold up on the biggest stage of his career against a top-five pass rush? Hopefully well for my sake.

Scoring Leaders

QB

Patrick Mahomes 90 (Andy)

Drew Brees 87 (Ryan)

Matt Ryan 76 (Alec)

Cam Newton 73 (Nick)
Aaron Rodgers 58 (Darrin)

Tom Brady 44 (Sneen)

Russell Wilson 33 (Scott)

Ryan Fitzpatrick 24 (Cole)

Andrew Luck 11 (Cole)

DeShaun Watson 11 (Cole)

Carson Wentz 11 (Scott)

RB

Alvin Kamara 92 (Darrin)

Todd Gurley 78 (Ryan)

Melvin Gordon 72 (Alec)

Saquon Barkley 66 (Alec)

James Conner 65 (Cole)

Christian McCaffrey 61 (Scott)

Ezekiel Elliott 48 (Nick)

Isaiah Crowell 45 (Sneen)

James White 42 (Darrin)

Jordan Howard 40 (Ryan)

David Johnson 38 (Scott)

Kareem Hunt 34 (Andy)
Joe Mixon 34 (Andy)

Tevin Coleman 27 (Cole)

Kenyan Drake 26 (Nick)

Dalvin Cook 24 (Andy)

Giovani Bernard 19 (Nick)

Javorius Allen 16 (Darrin)

Matt Breida 14 (Andy)

Jamaal Williams 14 (Sneen)

LeSean McCoy 12 (Darrin)

Leonard Fournette 8 (Cole)

Adrian Peterson 8 (Ryan)

Devonta Freeman 7 (Sneen)
Dion Lewis 5 (Nick)
Chris Thompson 2 (Scott)

WR

Michael Thomas 90 (Ryan)

Mike Evans 74 (Scott)

Adam Thielen 71 (Cole)

Tyreek Hill 68 (Alec)

A.J. Green 58 (Cole)

Davante Adams 57 (Scott)

Antonio Brown 56 (Darrin)

Stefon Diggs 53 (Alec)

DeAndre Hopkins 52 (Nick)

Julio Jones 52 (Ryan)

JuJu Smith-Schuster 51 (Sneen)

Odell Beckham Jr. 50 (Andy)

T.Y. Hilton 46 (Andy)

Keenan Allen 41 (Nick)

Demaryius Thomas 35 (Darrin)

Jarvis Landry 28 (Scott)

Chris Hogan 27 (Sneen)

Golden Tate 20 (Ryan)

Larry Fitzgerald 19 (Cole)
Emmanuel Sanders 17 (Cole)

Brandin Cooks 13 (Nick)

Cooper Kupp 12 (Alec)
Keelan Cole 9 (Andy)
Allen Robinson 8 (Alec)
Nelson Agholor 6 (Ryan)

Amari Cooper 1 (Alec)

TE

Travis Kelce 49 (Nick)

Zach Ertz 41 (Sneen)

Rob Gronkowski 35 (Sneen)

Jordan Reed 33 (Scott)

Kyle Rudolph 29 (Ryan)

Jimmy Graham 26 (Darrin)

Evan Engram 24 (Andy)

Trey Burton 23 (Alec)

George Kittle 18 (Cole)

Delanie Walker 9 (Cole)

Greg Olsen 5 (Ryan)

K

Mason Crosby 31 (Sneen)

Justin Tucker 31 (Scott)

Wil Lutz 28 (Alec)

Harrison Butker 23 (Andy)
Stephen Gostkowski 21 (Nick)

Robbie Gould 21 (Darrin)

Matt Bryant 19 (Cole)

Greg Zuerlein 16 (Ryan)

Matt Prater 14 (Ryan)

Chris Boswell 2 (Darrin)

DF

Los Angeles Rams 39 (Scott)

Jacksonville Jaguars 25 (Alec)
Minnesota Vikings 25 (Cole)

Baltimore Ravens 23 (Darrin)
Philadelphia Eagles 19 (Ryan)
Chicago Bears 15 (Andy)

Houston Texans 13 (Sneen)

Cleveland Browns 11 (Nick)

Los Angeles Chargers 11 (Nick)

New England Patriots 7 (Nick)

New Orleans Saints -4 (Andy)

Hypothetical Standings

The Scottfather 3-0

Team Easy Breesy 2-1

Tax Paying Homeowner 2-1

Team ChowHounds 2-1

Cole World 1-2

Perfectly Balanced 1-2

Crazy Todd's Driveway Band 1-2

SNEEN MACHINE 0-3