There's a moment in every close game — every truly close game — where somebody makes a small, forgettable decision that ends up mattering enormously. A lineup swap. A gut call. The kind of thing you don't think about twice until the final score makes you think about it forever.
Week 3 had two of those moments, and both of them went the wrong way for the person who made them.
But before we get to those, let's take a moment to discuss League Median scoring. Check out the study I did linked in our group chat for more info, but I think Week 3 highlights two reasons I'd vote in favor of league median.
First, 2 teams in the bottom 6 in scoring won this week. With league median, rather than going 1-0 on the week, they'd go 1-1.
Second, and more importantly, a lesson comes from my own matchup - I lost by .14, but was right on the line for being in the top 6 scoring for the week. In median scoring, I would have still been alive during MNF and watching Scott and Landon’s matchup closely to see if I stayed above Landon for the #6 scoring spot. Landon's Philly defense slowly lost points all night, with Case Keenum's final TD giving Scott the W. In median scoring, it would have also given ME a W, putting me 1-1 on the week instead of 0-1.
Is league median scoring potentially more "fair"? Maybe. But honestly for me, the argument is as much for fun as it is for fairness. It gives you a reason to pay more attention to ALL of the matchups in the league. And if you catch a Thursday night beatdown where 2 players go off for 70+ points against you, it gives you something to still play for into the weekend.
Those are my thoughts, but I would love to hear yours!
Now, back to the full recap, starting with two of the toughest losses and narrowest wins we'll see in the league this year.
The most painful belonged to Spencer. He put together a genuinely good team — 116.16 points, the 6th-best score in the league, a perfect coach grade with zero points left on the bench. Jared Goff, Kenneth Walker, CeeDee Lamb — all firing. And it wasn't enough. Tony's Tyler Shough went for 27.80 (third-best QB in the league this week), Jaylen Warren added 24.10, and when it was over, Tony had won by 0.14. Fourteen. Hundredths. Of. A. Point. It's well known that Spencer hates kickers in fantasy football. After back to back weeks with Cameron Dicker the Kicker scoring only 2 points, Spencer dropped him in favor of Trey Smack who came out and scored... 2 points (Dicker had 9 on the waiver wire). Tony's Harrison Mevis alone kicked for 17.90. That's not a footnote — that's the ballgame.
Landon's misfortune was structurally similar, emotionally worse. He put up 115.26 — seven points of excellent wide receiver play, with Drake London going for 28.90 and Davante Adams adding 20.20. But Drake Maye scored 3.76 at quarterback, and Scott's Bijan Robinson was out there doing whatever Bijan Robinson does when he's the best running back in the entire league on a given week: 39.30 points, the top RB mark of 30 starters. Scott won by 1.48. The brutal detail: Landon had three individual bench players who each would have flipped the result on their own.
While those two were suffering, Wade was staging a one-sided demolition of Joel. Brock Purdy dropped 35.28. Jahmyr Gibbs went for 37.90 — second-best running back in the league this week. Wade won 137.78–101.80 and pocketed the biggest blowout prize ($25, 35.98 margin) without breaking a sweat. Joel's Matthew Stafford actually had a fine game at 27.90, and Jeremiyah Love chipped in 19.40, but Wade won every position battle except kicker and defense. Sometimes the scoreboard just tells the whole story.
Billy's 145.84 — the week's high score and the other $25 — came with a footnote worth acknowledging: Jordan Addison was sitting on his bench at 17.50 while Courtland Sutton started for 6.10. Billy won anyway. Junk, on the losing end at 133.28, put up the third-best score in the league this week and still lost (I bet he'd be happy to have league median scoring right now). Brock Bowers scored 25.60. Joe Burrow scored 25.58. Matthew Golden added 21.50. That's a 133-point team losing to a 145-point team — the kind of brutal loss that doesn't mean anything except that Billy had a better week, which he did.
Emmo beat Andy 95.18–89.58 in the week's quietest game, winning with the 10th-best score of 12. Trevor Lawrence's 22.78 at quarterback was the difference in a position-by-position grind — Emmo won QB, RB, and TE; Andy took WR and flex. Andy finished last in the league in scoring this week, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 33.36 the lone bright spot on a 89-point afternoon. Emmo had 17.10 points sitting on his bench, including Luther Burden III at 16.30, and still won. Sometimes the other team helps.
Brandon beat Riley 108.94–91.46 behind George Kittle's 23.20 (second-best tight end in the league this week) and a dominant 33.20 from his wide receivers. Riley had Derrick Henry going for 21.40 in the flex and still couldn't get there. Deebo Samuel sat on Riley's bench for 15.40.
Junk leads the standings at 2-1. Joel is last in PPG at 83.73. The two teams that had an extra first round draft pick are both 1-2. No one is undefeated through 3 weeks, and no one is winless, both items are super rare. 1 game of separation from top to bottom makes for some incredibly interesting week 4 matchups.
