We're going to ignore my routine and predictable mid-season slide into irrelevancy by focusing on some other important things today. For one, this season has already seen two more members of the 100 win club, as Tyler got it last week and John Luke got it.. whenever he got his last win. Congrats to you two, they join Mike and TK as members. Second, as much fun as it's been ripping on Mike this year, John Luke is hitting some milestones in mediocrity himself (we'll cover that in JL's recap). Finally, we're going to take a moment to appreciate that TK-Tyler was not only a Fuck You Game, but also the second-smallest margin of victory ever recorded, which is fun (for everyone except Tmo). Let's get after it!

Imperialism Map

Recaps

John Luke 54.84 - Nathan 97.42

Nathan, congrats on the win despite not breaking 100. But unfortunately, I can't dwell on you for too long because WOW JL let's digest what is happening here. John Luke just put up the lowest points total the AFFL has seen since 2018 when Juan put up 41 points in week 11 (it breaks my heart that I don't have by-player data from back then, how much fun would that be to revisit). So yeah, tough look. BUT let's not let that overshadow the fact that John Luke is, after the conclusion of week 7, averaging under 100 PPG. The last time anyone was averaging that low this late into the season was, well... 2018 when Juan (and Ryan too, actually) finished the season averaging 95 PPG. Maybe he'd have fared better if he didn't leave over 44 points on the bench this week, but hey happens to the best of us, right JL?

Jake 90.8 - Garrett 133.46

Real M Night Shyamalan twist here, start hot and then just nosedive into the bottom realms of the league. Sick. All while Garrett had four important players on bye. For the 2nd time in 3 weeks Jake failed to break 100 and his hot 6-2 start has rapidly succumb to a 1-5 stretch in the middle of the season. Garrett is trending in the exact opposite direction, after starting 3-5, he's averaged 137 over his last three games and gone on a 5-1 run, thanks a lot in part to Travis Etienne Jr and Alvin Kamara's dynamic RB duo. Garrett also sits in a tie for 4th place, so if he can stay hot down the stretch the playoffs are a very attainable goal for him.

Ryan 106 - Collin 135.46

Solid performance from Collin here, who got 20+ from CMC and Amon-Ra, along with a surprise 21 from the Browns defense despite them giving up 38 points. 135 is nothing to scoff at, and it was more than plenty to cover Ryan's subpar outing that saw the Chargers fail to deliver. Austin Ekeler only managed 5.6 and Keenan Allen 9.5, which just didn't cut it to supplement Josh Allen's 26.3. But Ryan can rest easy, considering 106 will probably be enough to beat the dumpster fire that is Mike next week, while Collin turns to a quietly hot Nathan team that's gone 5-1 over the last 3 weeks.

Mike 110.88 - Austin 148.96

Aannnndddd let's not venture too far from aforementioned dumpster fire. I don't want to take credit away from Austin's nice week (yes I do) but Mike put up yet another not-top-5 effort this week, which makes him 0-7 on the year in that category. How, pray tell, did he manage to not get into the top 5 when Travis Kelce posted 36 points? Well, Ridley's 1.5 and Zack Moss being in a weird situationship with Jonathan Taylor is how. Mike is strategically keeping an actively-playing WR on the injured reserve (smart) and carrying an extra kicker and defense on the bench just in case, so I can't really put my finger on where it's going wrong for Mike, but his 1-13 record speaks for itself. Now the question is... how in God's name did John Luke let Mike beat him??

Tyler 156.66 - TK 157.06

Wow WHAT a game yall. The 20th FYG in league history with a margin of victory of 0.4. Going into MNF, 137.46-139.76 in Tmo's favor. TK only had Hockenson and needed him to outscore Alexander Mattison and Brandon Aiyuk by more than 2.3. He would up outscoring them by 2.7, giving TK the win and narrowing the standings gap between him and Tmo by 1. Obviously Tmo still got a Top 5, but the win was huge for TK. But Hockenson, Mattison, and Aiyuk really weren't even the heroes of this game. Mahomes dropped 43.86 and D'Onta Foremon 33 for TK's effort, while Tmo had five different players break 20, including his kicker. Much like Ryan, the Chargers flaccid game doomed him as Herbert could only muster up 10.86 points. 0.4 points is the second-smallest MOV ever, coming short of Nathan beating Jake by 0.26 points in week 3 of last year. There isn't a scheduled rematch between Tmo and TK, but at this rate they could wind up being each other's opponent during the Week 10's arranged matchups.