Annnnnnnd we're back! This entry of Ups & Downs will be a bit different -- missing our entry graphic, missing my beautiful Shame Belt graphic artistry, etc, but we're going to make sure we have plenty of words to fill our gaps. I'm operating via iPad at work typing this entry, so you'll need to forgive the lack of pizazz. Without further delay, let's get into it.

POST SEASON REVIEW

1 UP, 1 DOWN

Without getting into it too much, I'm going to weigh into the Super Bowl from last cycle. Obviously this has been talked about by a variety of league personalities, but I want to put my official words into non-GroupMe text. Dan gets an Up/Down for how he handled the game, Dookie gets an Up/Down for the variety of things that could've been different.

First off, let's not take too much away from Dookie. He had a great season. He won the Super Bowl. He deserves that acknowledgement. Beyond that let's take a brief look at the specifics and what I think could've/should've been done differently.

The PA Play - For those that don't know, PA on 3rd and long is illegal. In the 3rd quarter when Dan was up by 3, Dookie called a PA pass on 3rd & 11. The result was a first down and the result of the drive was a TD putting Dookie up by 4. Both parties share blame here. Dan 100% should've paused and forced a punt. Dookie 100% should've never called the play in the first place. No matter what anyone says this was a HUGE momentum shift in the game. We can hypothesize until the end of time what could have happened if a non-PA pass was called, but as it stands it should've been a forced punt due to breaking the rules. In that scenario what was a 4 point lead for Dookie could have turned into a 6-10 point lead for Dan. The impact to the game that this one play had is drastic. Both players get a down for their role in it in the end. 

Phantom Fat Fingering - I think everyone was shocked when this happened in real time. Dookie with the ball needing a TD and very little time on the clock resulted in Dan calling the worst timed accidental run commit of his life. The result of the play was Dookie being able to literally crawl into the end zone for the go ahead score. The effect of this play was monumental. In terms of win-probability added it flipped the scales completely and was obviously the most important play of the game. I can see this both ways and have trouble truly faulting a guy one way or the other. It was unfortunate in the timing for Dan. I would have liked to see Dookie give Dan a shot, however. We all know it was a mistake and/or a Madden issue. We all know no one is calling an illegal run commit in that spot. Considering the fact that Dookie gained a score from the PA play earlier, I would've LOVED to see Dookie go out at the 20-30 yard line and give Dan a shot at defense. I know that winning a Simbardi was important and in that spot in the heat of the moment I'm sure all he was thinking about was scoring. That being said, if he goes out and gives Dan a shot at defense in my mind we could've at least been even for the error previously and the results of the game would be 100% undisputed in my mind. This is one man's opinion, however.

As is, these guys both get an Up for the game played. It was entertaining, it was hard fought, and it didn't involve Prime-Time000 winning another trophy. That last part we can all be thankful for.

OFF SEASON TRADE REVIEW

We're going to take a moment and look at our trades that were agreed upon and give an Up or a Down where appropriate. 

2 UPs - Rams/Dolphins Tu'a Tagovailoa Trade

I'm pretty on board with this trade for both owners. Rd desperately needed an answer at QB. Pauly believes left handed QBs are witches that should be burned at the stake. It was a match made in heaven. Rd sent Miami his 1st and 2nd round picks this year (a year where he had high picks for once due to other complications) and in return he got his franchise QB. It's tough to argue against it for the Rams perspective and for Pauly's it worked due to another trade later on.

1 DOWN - Bears/Jaguars Khalil Mack Trade

As a NFC North competitor I love this. Khalil Mack was annoying as all hell. The guy wins every one on one, he randomly gets around the edge in 3 seconds, and is one of the players on the Chicago defense you had to account for always. Him being gone is amazing. I get that he is old and costs a lot of money. This comes back to the Metcalf deal last season, though. If you trade a premier asset you should command a premium price. The 31st pick in the draft and 27 year old Sidney Jones is NOT a premium price. Jones is already past his good development days and could be regressing as soon as next season. The 31st pick in the draft might be a good asset, but could easily be a whiff depending on scouting and preference. It's just really hard to be content with this return if I'm the Bears when you factor in that a lot of teams that pick earlier probably would've had some level of interest. For Bomber this is a win, but he already won so he doesn't get an Up to go along with it.

2 UPs - Packers/WFT Aaron Jones/Jonathan Allen Trade

Yeah, I'm giving myself an up. Wanna fight about it? Look, here are the facts: Aaron Jones is 28. Aaron Jones had yet to receive a breakout game/development upgrade after many years of really solid work. Aaron Jones was making a shitload of money. All that combined meant he was expendable for my roster. In comes Jonathan Allen, a talent who has perhaps been under utilized this cycle. He's aging as well, but he plays a position that I needed help at and came with a bonus 2nd round DP from WFT. This deal worked out great for both parties; WFT wanted a back to bridge the gap for a couple seasons while he looks for a longer term replacement and for Green Bay we got desperately needed DL depth and a pick. I came into this trade feeling content with 2nd year HB Jaren Middleton if I needed to use him, but found what I feel is a long term replacement in Robert Bigsby via draft. Win/win deals are my favorite type of deals (take notes, Prime).

1 DOWN - Eagles/Falcons Marquise Goodwin Trade

What in the hell are you doing, Lawyer? We don't trade assets for old guys. Goodwin is still fast, but he's old as shit and going to drop off rapidly. Fast only does well as long as the guy can catch & catching attributes are the first ones to go. I could've lived with this if it was a single 3rd round DP for him -- that's a shot in the dark at a player. The fact that this is 3rd round DPs in consecutive years is mind-boggling. Goodwin is not going to be a piece that takes a team from 3rd place to the playoffs, period.

1 UP/1 DOWN - Titans/Patriots Shaq Mason Trade

Alright, let's get weird. I'm giving an up & a down both to Coop's side of this trade. On one hand, acquiring offensive line help to hopefully run Derrick Henry til he dies is a move I'll support til the end of time. On the other, trading a very high 2nd round pick to do that is a little steep for me. Mason is done improving and is expensive. I think the Titans cap situation is fine, so he can afford it, but I feel like he can accomplish similar results with the 2nd round pick itself. OL has become more and more sexy as DPs as the years have gone on, but it still feels like we're losing value here. I love the flexibility that these top-50ish picks bring as you can simply see what falls to you. I question whether this was the right move with that in mind. Matt's side? Who cares. #freedrewlock

4 DOWNs - Bears/Dolphins Stephen Tolbert Trade

The guys at Heat Check went over this one pretty well already, but I'm going to touch on it. Why, Figg? What does one accomplish by trading a SS XF QB that is still young? I agree that you need to run the ball more & therefore I don't completely mind your other move for JK Dobbins. I think you were at your best when you were controlling the game by running it on offense and playing above average defense. At the end of the day though this trade is the ultimate sin. You take arguably the most important position on the field and say "No thanks" to being set at it for the duration of the cycle. It just doesn't make sense from any rational point of view. Therefore, for the first time ever, you're getting a down for every aspect of this trade. You get a down for trading Tolbert. You get a down for each of the picks you acquired. You get a down for taking on 73 year old awful Kyle Van Noy. 4 Downs, Figg. This was a huge loss for you and you set your franchise back multiple years in the process.

2 UPs - Bucs/Texans Antoine Winfield Jr. Trade

I like this move for both guys. Winfield Jr. is young enough to where you can still develop him. He needs new money, which was the motivator for him being traded from Tampa Bay, but I think safety play is important this year so Oktoba acquiring him is okay in my book. The other end of the deal was next year's 1st round DP going to Tampa. This could range anywhere realistically from top 10 to top 20. Oktoba is a decent player and this is a win now move, but it's always hard to compete in the AFC South with Prime, Bomber, and Coop. I like both aspects and as I said earlier, win/win trades are my favorite (again, take notes Prime). 

1 UP - Jaguars/Saints K'Lavon Chiasson Trade

Bomber's getting an up here for taking a very safe gamble on a 1st round pick. Chaisson seemed like he was on the way out from the beginning of the off-season and he finally found someone willing to pay his price. On paper Chaisson looked like a guy that was getting there but might not ever quite be "great." His ability was pretty meh and he doesn't have a very high fmv/pmv to lead to a lot of sacks. He looked like a decent edge setter and I struggled to value him and his situation (new money, age, etc) as a favorable price for an early 1st. In all likelihood, that's what will end up being the price next season. Colt's started this season off pretty rough and considering his divisional opponents, it's tough to see a winning record in the future. Maybe he'll surprise us all and put together an 8 win or better season; myself and clearly Bomber aren't exactly betting on it, though.

1 DOWN - Jaguars/Steelers Chase Claypool Trade

We almost made it. We almost made it through the off-season without a Tennessean making a silly trade with the AFC South. Last year it was Tiny and DK Metcalf, this year it's KJ and Chase Claypool. Let me start by saying this: I don't mind that KJ traded Claypool. I think he's a solid receiver and I think he's got a ton of upside (especially with a user that know how to use him properly). My issue, as always, is the return. In exchange for a youthful WR with immense upside you take on aging Dede Westbrook (who needs new money) and a THIRD ROUND PICK. KJ, Bomber is a playoff team. That 3rd round pick is guaranteed to be worse than 25ish. You may not even snag a top 75 player in exchange for a guy that a lot of people would offer a 2nd or better for. The best move is sometimes the move you don't make and this one really feels like a missed opportunity for our guy KJ.

1 UP - Detroit/San Francisco Trevor Hartwig Trade

Hova finally found a QB and it's at a great price. Hartwig still has work to do, but he's young and already star dev. Detroit is a roster that is barren of talent and the user needs all the help he can get in that department. This is kind of the reverse of Figg's situation -- you pay what you need to to set yourself up for the rest of the cycle. It's up to Hova how far Hartwig can go. The one thing for sure is he's damn sure going to be better than the carousel he ran out at QB last season. Big win for the Detroit Lions. Dump's side? Who knows. He acquired Jalen Hurts (at a pretty good price) and it appears he's going to roll that direction. I'll trust his judgement on that front and we'll see how it plays out. 

2 DOWNs - Indianapolis/Atlanta Kenny Moore Trade

Yikes. This trade was just announced tonight. Kenny Moore (pending approval) heading to Atlanta for a 1st and a 2nd round pick. This trade  almost trumps Figg's trades for worst of the off-season. Kenny Moore is a FINE player. He's SuperStar dev, he's not old but he's not young. He's the exact type of guy that a team with Super Bowl aspirations adds to put them over the top. He's not the type of player you add when you're struggling to make the playoffs, as Lawyer has been this cycle. Kenny Moore is 28 years old, he's leaving his progression years and will be entering his regression years (AND NEEDS NEW MONEY). It's an extremely steep price to pay in assets for a player that you've already seen the best of. There's a very good chance Lawyer finishes somewhere around .500, sees Moore regress next off-season (after re-signing him), and then doesn't have a 1st or a 2nd round pick. At least you have Prime's late 3rd though, right? This is a trade that reaks of desperation at a price that even our Tennessee boys will say is too much. I love Lawyer. We've had so many interesting games through the seasons. This one's just bad, man.

THE SHAME BELT

I'm going to miss my kludged together graphics on this one, but I think the winner of the off-season Shame Belt is pretty obvious. This man gutted his team of most interesting talent, added very little in the draft, and watched as the rest of his division mates had pretty good off-seasons. In a world of progression and improvement, Figgnewton stands alone as a man that will torpedo his entire team and whiff at his chance for glory. Gone are the years of fearing Mack & worrying about a competent QB. We now live in a world where there's a decent chance that Hova doesn't finish last. Good luck on your weird crazy plan, Figg, I hope it works out. For now, at least you can say you won one championship out of it.

That wraps up Ups & Downs for this week! I'll try to put together a week 1 entry either Sunday evening or a week 1/2 combo entry early next week.

Thanks for reading!

Welp, it’s confirmed. I love punishment. Things move fast in the SML and sometimes it’s tough to keep up. It takes a lot of time to look thru every game every week and sometimes things get away from me. I’ve committed to awarding the Ups & Downs each week and we’re going to get it done one way or another! That’s where we are now...a seven-week mega entry for Ups & Downs. Weeks 11 thru 17. Help me.

Week 11

DOWN - New England Takes Us Back to 1923

Okay so here’s the thing -- Matt’s a self-proclaimed bad passer. He knows who he is and he owns it. He’s a solid runner and that’s how he wins. This game...jesus. Drew Lock’s statline - ahem - 5 passing attempts for 113 yards and 2 TDs. Five? Five attempts the entire game? Now taking all “is this sim?” conversations out of this, what? How does one only need to attempt 5 passes in an entire game and how does one also win seemingly handily doing it? Some questions just might not be meant to be answered. Huge down, Matt. You disgust me.

UP - Gram Remembers Who He Is

Gram appears to have dismantled Meats. Judging based on their seasons this one is a pretty big upset. Dallas walks away winners 45-20 and seems to have given the playbook on Beating The Meats. He forced Kyler to throw 12 incompletions including 4 interceptions to only 1 touchdown. He also completely shut down the run game, which I’m assuming was a product of Gram leading early. Good for him. Isaiah Simmons still was able to get an interception though, so Meats has that going for him.

DOWN - Experimental Reverse Techniques Not Working in Pittsburgh

After giving a hearty down to the Patriots for being abysmal thru the air I had the pleasure of stumbling across this New Orleans/Pittsburgh game. Was KJ temporarily dead for this game? In case anyone missed it check out these totals: Daniel Jones, 4/15, 9 yards, 5 INTs. Running game: 11 carries, 54 yards. There were zero completions to WRs (although with only 4 completions that’s not overly surprising). This Pittsburgh bar is unbelievably low. He’s at the point where moving the ball literally at all is almost Up-Worthy. This deserves 3 different Downs but I’m a fair guy so I’ll only hand out one.

UP - Reddick Has Monster Day Against Falcons

Reddick scores what appears to be an entire season of Pittsburgh Yards in one game, accounting for 357 yards and 6 TDs. The YPC averages in Tampa Bay come off a bit fishy for me, but you can’t dispute the firepower. Dookie finds a way to get yards on the ground to open up the passing game and makes his opponents pay for it deep. Without researching I’m sure this isn’t his best game so far and won’t be his best game of all time, but chunk yards is definitely a thing in Tampa.

UP - Saquon Goes Off Against Carolina

I found out first hand a couple weeks in the future that Saquon is a biiiiig ol’ bag of dicks. Royce found out this week, though, as Barkley carried 25 times for 195 yards and 2 TDs. He chipped in 3 catches for 68 yards and 1 TD thru the air. Utilizing Barkley as his main weapon helped Rowin win the division in the end, and I feel like he’s learned how to effectively let his main weapon do the work. 

DOWN - TTS Apparently Doesn’t Learn

You guys remember from the last article when I laughed at TTS for finding a way to throw 5 INTs to one player? It was Grant Delpit and the Browns. 2 weeks ago. What did we see this week? Dane Cruikshank...5 INTs. Look, TTS, I’m speaking directly to you here: just stop throwing over the middle. Anything deep posty take out of the playbook. You & Burrow have a Wonder Twins Power and it’s self harm. You got this...just stop that part.

UP - Tiny Wins Weird Game Where Apparently No One Wanted To Win

I really debate giving this an up. This box score was weird as it seems like both of these guys are just playing bad Madden. They combined for 8 INTs and really unspectacular rushing totals all around, but I’m leaning toward the Up in an effort to remain positive. I’m glad I didn’t see this game live

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Week 12

DOWN - TTS Generosity Tour Continues

TTS is giving me PTSD about my own game from previous years. Another week, another 5 INTs...but at least he spread the love around this time. He continues to have just a world of trouble with safeties (4 of 5 INTs were to safeties) and it’s putting him in holes he simply cannot get out of. I feel bad giving TTS so many downs for so many weeks but they’re absolutely deserved. I haven’t seen week 13’s game yet, but it’s probably a good bet that Burrow threw a bunch of picks and Bengals lost. 

UP - Fazz Ends Dookie’s Perfect Season Bid

Minnesota/Tampa has the potential to be a consistently fun game to watch. Fazz has more pedigree than Dookie in the post-season so far, but Dookie is the regular season champion. Dookie claims this game is an asterisk, saying he was battling lag the entire way and writing off the entire thing. For a guy that bitches about his wins I’m not going to entertain the thought that he would have a legitimate bitch about his losses. Ultimately the stats don’t lie -- Fazz dominated the entire way and put a 1 in the loss column for Tampa.

UP - Dump Finally Beats The Meats

Dump seems to have sorta reinvigorated himself down the line and this win against Arizona and Meats is a big one. There’s no surprise who led the way; Raheem Mostert had a monster 26 carries for 236 yards and 3 TDs. Dump didn’t have to pass much and clearly was able to control the clock and the end results were a close (but in hand) 10 point victory against Arizona. The new-found Dump recipe for success is working.

UP - Lions Find a Winnable Game

This one’s not a HUGE shock. If you can protect the ball and win ugly you can definitely beat Pauly. That being said, this Detroit team and Hova in general have NOT been a challenge for literally anyone this cycle. The box score doesn’t matter here; nothing fun happened. Hova deserves an up for this win, though. 

DOWN - Green Bay’s Defense Sucks Ass

Only 3 incompletions forced. 7 YPC from the run game. 3 interceptions thrown. This game was the start of a series of games that were an actual nightmare for me and while I don’t want to re-live this, I’m happy to award a much deserved Down to myself.

UP - Samuel & CMC Show Destroys New Orleans

Curtis Samuel had 4 grabs for 105 yards and 2 TDs. McCaffrey had 20 carries for 175 yards and 3 TDs. The passing yardage and receptions accounted for just about half of Jacob Eason’s game totals and the rushing yardage speaks for itself. It turned out to be a fairly dominant and impressive offensive game from Carolina. When all things are clicking for Royce like that it’s very hard to limit the damage.

DOWN - Houston Feels Bad for KJ, Sacrifices Deshaun Watson To the Shit Gods

2 completions, 9 attempts. 26 yards passing. 3 INTs. As ugly as this is, KJ’s still gotta be jealous. Honestly looking at this entire box score this game looks insane. 41-0 Colts victory with the Colts having only 27 offensive touches. It appears Houston’s secondary hemorrhaged yards and Indianapolis was more than happy to capitalize. You can swing this game either way for an Up or a Down, but that performance passing deserves the spotlight.

DOWN - Jacksonville Should Win By 30, Only Wins By 7

I sorta feel like Bomber’s in between a bit this season. He’s doing this Dan-lite thing where he wins boring. I don’t like it. That’s the basis of this Down. Gram threw 4 INTs and rushed for almost no yards and Bomber only BARELY held on for a win. There can be an argument for ball control offense and doing what you need to do to get the win, but I don’t know if Bomber has the killer instinct at this point to make things happen in the postseason. 

UP - McLaurin vs. Robinson Head to Head Battle 

I remember this game. Figg got out to a super big lead early and wound up slipping and coughing it up late. Looking back at the box score this was an incredible game for these two receivers. McLaurin had 8 grabs for 149 yards and 3 TDs. Allen Robinson had 5 grabs for 122 yards and 3 TDs. These two alone were probably worth the cost of admission, but the fact that this one truly wound up being a great game pushes it even further. Good performance to both of these guys (at least in this regard).

WEEK 13

DOWN - ZZ Is a Bad Example

Maaaaan, I’m thrilled these games are few and far between. When I pulled up this 52-34 final versus Meats I was ready to give an up. That being said, it’s a down for me. 396 yards, 5 TDs, 6 INTs. It’s just not the statline you usually want to see from your franchise mates. It was a clear example of ZZ trying to keep up with Meats, but it looks like the reason he had to play catch up was self-inflicted based on the turnovers. I’m sure Meats was smiling like a fucking deranged toddler with his “mutants,” though.

UP - Fazz Brutalizes Poor Alex

Jeez, what’d the Jets do to you? Norton threw 4 TDs, Cook rushed for 3 more, and the Vikings absolutely ran away with a 49-21 victory. I had performed similarly against Latin in the past, but my defensive performance was lacking. It looks like Fazz was clicking on all cylinders here and I doubt he was in a sweat at any point in time.

UP - Figg Extends My Nightmare

52-38 final. Reading through these box scores another time makes me angry all over again. This game was tough. Figg’s not a guy I usually struggle with defensively, but for whatever reason my team refused to tackle for this stretch of weeks. I forced 1 incompletion, allowed over 200 yards rushing, and failed to convert offensively. I definitely deserve a down for the performance, but Figg more deserves an up for the rare outburst of elite offense.

UP - Lawyer Flashes Back to 2019

Lawyer can play pretty decent Madden when he wants to. This game was a semi-flashback to a better time. Lawyer racked up 232 yards and 2 TDs with Todd Gurley while intercepting Minshew 5 times. The game wasn’t without warts for him, however, as his QB threw 3 INTs of his own. That being said, a small tip of the cap to Lawyer for a throwback game. Maybe we can have more of these moving forward?

DOWN - NYT Sucks, Still Wins

I don’t know how you only throw for 87 yards against KJ, but good job NYT. Somehow you made it. This game might’ve been during your sickness or something, but there’s still no excuse in my opinion. In no way, shape, or form should anyone struggle to move the ball offensively against the Steelers. KJ was even semi-competent on offense with ALMOST 200 yards passing and a little over 100 yards rushing. Shame on NYT for being awful, sickness be damned.

UP - Josh Allen; Good For Once

I bet Bomber can count on one hand the amount of games he’s played with Josh Allen where he can’t offer a single “C’MON” toward. Allen was on point for this tilt versus Houston, completing 13 of 14 pass attempts for 266 yards and 4 TDs. Rookie HB Wiley tacked on 134 yards and 1 TD and while the score was close it appears Bomber probably had this one in control most of the game. His close calls still make me feel uneasy, but at least this game shows that he’s not impotent offensively. 

UP - Pauly Knocks Off Prime

This is an example of how you DON’T beat Pauly. I mentioned before if you can not turnover the ball and win an ugly game, you can beat Pauly. Here’s Prime doing exactly not that. He’s been very turnover prone thru the air this season and the 3 INTs from Frank George absolutely attributed to this 28-13 loss. Prime was unable to get the run game going as well, which fed right into Pauly’s gameplan. A win over the “legend” Prime-Time000 is always something to celebrate, and Pauly deserves credit for making it happen here.

DOWN - Tiny Sucks, Doesn’t Still Win

Lol. The Lions had been awful all season and despite Hova admittedly improving A LOT over the back end of the season, this game is an absolute joke. Tiny was 5/14 with Russell Wilson for 54 yards and 6 INTs. He allowed Kerryon Johnson to rush 23 times for 180 yards and 4 TDs. I’d like to give Tiny the benefit of the doubt but these are the types of games that he of all people NEEDS to win. I’m going to live to regret this, but I mark all Detroit games as wins pre-season. If Tiny can’t mark games like that similarly, he’s in for a world of hurt. You MUST win the games you’re suppose to win.

WEEK 14

UP - Rowin Finds a Defense

It took long enough, but Rowin finally played what appears to have been a dominant defensive game. He forced Tolbert to throw 5 INTs and get benched for Mitch Trubisky. Tarik Cohen had 12 carries for only 27 yards. Rowin didn’t need much more than Saquon Barkley this game as his defense maybe for the first time ever carried his game. If Rowin can put games like this togethe on a long-term basis, he’d be a force to be reckoned with.

UP - Scary Terry Knocks Detroit Back to the Dumpster

Wow. 6 receptions, 173 yards, 4 TDs. Adkins had 5 total TDs. Washington reminded Detroit that they’re not a passing team by notching 5 INTs as well. These are the types of results that I expect when playoff teams face 4th place teams. Good job, WFT, whoever you are.

UP - Dan Continues to Lowkey Spam His Best WR For Dev

I think Hamler’s statline has gone under the radar a bit. I had noticed he’d been getting chunk totals while reading box scores, but the end of the season totals are pretty intense. In this game Hamler had 5 receptions for 124 yards and 4 TDs. Courtland Sutton & Jerry Jeudy are probably looking for a trade out of Denver on the other end because of how Dan apparently hates them both. KJ Hamler stock is definitely going up, though.

DOWN - KJ Played Matt I Guess

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz. Next.

UP - Dump Rides Mostert To ANOTHER Victory Against Meats

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Meats is dying for Mostert to be hit by regression any time soon. Mostert chalked up another insane game, carrying the ball 24 times for 253 yards and 3 TDs. The margin of victory was VERY slim this time around, with San Francisco winning 38-35. In a very LOLMeats occurrence, Kyler Murray led his team in rushing attempts. 

UP - Tyler Boyd, Have a Game

Bengals hung on and won 38-31, which is nice for TTS. The main offensive factor this time around was Tyler Boyd grabbing 11 receptions for 188 yards and 2 TDs. It’s amazing how much more efficient things run when you’re not throwing every other pass to the opposing safeties. 

UP - I’m Giving Coop a Pity Up

Okay, so he lost here. He’s supposed to lose this game. I’m focusing primarily on the fact that Derrick Henry got 23 carries! Good job, Coop! Win or lose, leaning on your horses is the way to go. Ryan Tannehill was miserable as expected, only contributing 49 yards thru the air with 2 TDs & 3 INTs. Screw it though, keep feeding Henry. ALL THE CARRIES, COOP.

WEEK 15

UP - KJ Hires Madden Player to Play Meaningless Game For Him

I don’t for a millisecond believe KJ played this game. Daniel Jones, he of standard statlines under 100 yards, completed 23 of 29 passes for 400 yards and 4 TDs. WHAT? He had 3 separate receivers that eclipsed 100 yards. WHAT? I refuse to accept any other reality than KJ definitely didn’t play this game. There’s a very distinct possibility that Earth would end otherwise.

UP - Packers Walk Off With Win Over Giants

This was a fun game. I got out to a pretty hot start and led the majority of the way, but Rowin made a late surge and wound up taking the lead. From there I was able to hit eventual Rookie of the Year Luke Moreland for the game-winning TD (his third of the day) in the back of the end zone. Jordan Love played well and our defense forced 3 interceptions, but me being able to FINALLY clutch out a win this season was a nice change.

DOWN - The SML

I just looked thru every game’s box score for this week and the only notable things were the two previously mentioned ups. That means that every other game had unspectacular results and expected outcomes. IMPRESS ME, DAMMIT.

WEEK 16

UP - Rowin Makes Good On Promises, Beats Prime

I watched this game live and Rowin more or less controlled the game from the 2nd-ish quarter on. Prime made a lot of mistakes and really gave Rowin all the opportunity to capitalize. That being said, Rowin DID perform well and DID come away with the win. I said it in group chat after the game and I stand by it now; Prime lost that more than Rowin won it. All things considered though, you get an Up for coming through.

UP - Devin White Cements DPOY With 3 INT Game

I’m going the other way this time and giving Dookie some credit for his year with Devin White. White would eventually go on to lock up the DPOY win, and this game result had to have gone a long way to clinching that. Anytime a player gets 3+ INTs and they’re not playing TTS it’s impressive. Even more so there’s a good chance these were users. I’ll give Dookie all the shit in the world for bragging about his broken forced fumble defense that’s completely unsim and should be frowned upon, but INTs from LBs in Madden 21 are harder to come by.

DOWN - Bomber Checks Out Versus Dan

This one was horrible to watch. Bomber lost 31-3 and it probably wasn’t even that close. I think we were 20 C’MONs deep by the end of the game and I’m sure we could’ve found more. It was just truly an ugly performance from Bomber and one that I hope he learned from. These two could very well face off down the road and another game like this would be devastating. (alsomorehamlerspamimontoyoudan)

DOWN - MikeFML Has a Flashback Game

Oof. This one hurts on multiple levels. Straight to the point, I played like shit. Adding onto that, I also got unlucky. Adding on even more, TE Luke Moreland was playing for Superstar and I fell 1 yard short. Oof. 5 INTs doesn’t get it done. No rush game doesn’t get it done. Just awful all around. This was easily my least favorite game of the season.

UP - KJ Wins Again, This Time I Believe It

TTS found more INTs, which surely helped. I can’t name a more dynamic combo this season. That being said, KJ won a game that he seems to have controlled the entire time. Stats make sense, I believe the result, and I can congratulate KJ on finding a way to win. In my eyes this season he finishes 1-14*, but I’m glad he got that 1. 

WEEK 17

*Writer’s Note* We finally made it to week 17. Oh my god. #TitanicMeme

UP - Dan Gets Big Playoff Tune-Up Win

This probably isn’t a Super Bowl preview in my eyes (and knowing the results it definitely isn’t), but Dan scored a hard fought win against Dump 27-24. It looks pretty ugly all around but this one I’ll actually ignore that fact and just congratulate on the victory. In the playoffs especially it doesn’t matter how you win as long as you win, so if this is a preview it’s a damn good start for Dan.

UP - Future Abuses ZZ

Jeez. 25/31 for 538 yards and 6 TDs. Henry Ruggs had 9 receptions for 266 yards and 3 TDs. Ruggs vs. Hill is a pretty intense battle and Future won the race 47-41. It’s pretty simple w/ the uber fast guys; send them straight or on a post and throw accurately. It seems that’s literally all you have to do and this is a pretty insane example of it.

DOWN - Pauly Limps Into Playoffs With Loss to Bengals

Pauly had been self-deprecating for the better part of this season and this isn’t how you want to finish up a season. He lost 17-14 in a pretty unspectacular game and this may have very well been Tua’s final regular season game as a Miami Dolphin. There’s been a lot of chatter about Pauly looking to move his franchise QB at some point in time, so this would be a pretty fitting regular season finale in that regard. Tua was 9/12 for 71 yards and 1 INT. I get the feeling that Pauly didn’t really have a lot invested in this one as seeding may have been mostly locked up. Either way, you play to win the game and letting any slip away isn’t a good thing.

UP - Bomber Hitting His Stride Offensively

The trend with this entry so far is guys doing well heading into the postseason. A couple weeks back I called Bomber out for struggling offensively. At that time I was VERY curious if he’d be able to turn it on for the playoffs. Rowin is a playoff team and this is definitely a good match up. Bomber had everything working; he’s been able to run well most of the season and Josh Allen flipped the coin and played well today. The match-ups in the bracket are tougher on the AFC side, but Bomber should feel good moving forward. 

UP - RD Returns, Reminds Tiny He Sucks

RD had been out for most of the season handling some IRL things. He made it back up just in time to win his 5th game, dominating Tiny in regular fashion. Russ had 3 INTs, Tiny ran for almost no yardage, and RD played ball control offense for the victory. I’ll see ya on the No Playoffs Couch, Tiny.

UP - Meats Wins Weird Game Against Fazz

I don’t know what to make of this one. Kyler only completed 6 passes while notching rushing attempts with 6 different players. Kyler AGAIN led his team in rushing attempts (LOLMeats), albeit in a tie with Lindsay. Honestly, I’m not really sure how Meats won this one. It looks completely weird on paper and these are games Fazz usually wins. I’m sure he’ll kick it into gear come playoff time, but it’s never enjoyable losing against someone you could see again very soon.

DOWN - Danny Duds Season Finale

41-3 F. 4/11 for 56 yards and 2 INT. It’s a fitting end to a season where KJ won ONLY ONE GAME and somehow found new rock bottoms as the weeks went on. I’ve enjoyed consistently shitting on KJ as his game logs are mesmerizing. I sincerely hope you find some traction moving forward.

UP - New Eagles Owner Upsets WFT, Setting Up Possible Rivalry

The NFC East has been kinda silly so far this cycle. Chris (who recently left) made the playoffs season 1 before completely tumbling and being awful. Gram has been inconsistent. Rowin is Rowin. WFT is on their 2nd owner. MythicalHedgeduk is coming up fresh from Primer, but has known relationships in SML already. He’s been consistently competitive in the Primer and can very well fight for a division especially with a team that’s not completely barren of talent. This one is one to watch and for the guys that like to predict, he could very well be a NFC East front runner moving forward.

UP - Hova Finishes On a High, Wins 3rd Game

Apparently all Hova needs is a HB named Johnson and someone playing bad defense. Figg allowed Ty Johnson to rumble for 204 yards and 3 TDs. Figg has been in a rough spot all season long and this is probably not how you want to go out, despite the fact that the game didn’t matter. Here’s the bad news for Figg moving forward: at 5-10-1 he’s looking at a 2nd place schedule next cycle. Yikes. You can blame myself and Hova for that, because we opted to suck even more. GGs on the 3 wins Hova. That’s 3 more than I thought you’d get.

WRAP UP & FINAL COUNT

I honestly don’t know how I made it through that. If any of you actually read through this entire thing, thanks for the time! I didn’t highlight team names/teams so good luck to those that want to skim through for their highlights :) 

Hopefully moving forward I’ll be able to more effectively stay on track with write ups to not get such an intense backlog. It was a fun first season of Ups & Downs, but we’ll be back for a playoff edition as well as a pre-season edition (if I feel like it). 

FINAL COUNT: 32 UP, 16 DOWN

We finally get our heavily positive, heavily up edition of Ups & Downs. No one did anything super egregious & Dookie not getting the Dookie down every week certainly helped. He deserved it some weeks, but I opted to give him a chance for a clean slate moving into next season.

SHAME BELT

We’re finally here. The end of this mega entry of Ups & Downs. As always, we end with the Shame Belt. Generally speaking this is an award handed out to the person who delays our advances the most. Considering this is another mega-episode, I’m going off course a little. We’re going to play a little game here. I’m going to give the OVERALL statline for a player over the weeks covered in this article and you can guess before seeing the answer:

44 completions, 63 attempts. 869 yards. 7 TDs. 7 INTs. OVER THE COURSE OF SEVEN F’N GAMES. 

Get your shit together, Matt. 

Shame Belt History:

1. Nole/LatinYank

2. Nole

3. Royce

4. ZZ

5. Matt

Ladies and Gentlemen we are officially BACK. After a couple weeks of being behind due to the holidays and general laziness we return to you with an action packed MEGA Column featuring Ups & Downs from 3 weeks of SML action.

Before I get going we're going to be looking at each week individually and then scoring the total collectively. Therefore teams could get multiple ups or multiple downs overall in this column. Without further time wasting; let's get into it.

SML WEEK 8

DOWN - The infamous "Dookie Down"

Yep, starting off week 8 with our weekly tradition. Dookie gets us going with a down. Maybe he breaks the streak next week? Probably not.

UP - Dump Winning Games He Should Win

Dump has been letting me down a bit losing some close games I expect him to win, but I think it's fair to offer an up this week due to his absolute demolishing of Figg and the Bears. If you're going to lose games against tough comp you'd BETTER win games you're suppose to win. Defeating the Bears 48-3 is a step in the right direction. Dump A: didn't turn the ball over, B: forced several interceptions, and C: appears to have had a reasonably balance offensive attack. If he can keep this up he's more than capable of being in the conversation for NFC front runner.

DOWN - Woods Not Doing His Job

And here's an immediate opposite of the previous entry. Woods took on the New Orleans Saints this week and lost 17-14. Don't get me wrong, Colt isn't a bad player. He's average. Woods has been the guy year in and year out that looks like he's ready to take the next step, but comes up short. Losing games like this maybe solidifies that thought. Woods has no doubt had QB issues since day 1. He didn't enjoy the Baker Experience and decided quickly to pivot to the Dakota Mann Show. So far the show is looking like it may be canceled before it finishes its first season. Mann has been OKAY this year, completing 69 percent of his passes for 13 TDs and 11 INTs but he's clearly been unspectacular and likely not what Woods is looking for. It's hard to truly develop a QB multiple years into the cycle, so you have to wonder if Woods will be in the market for a QB yet again next season.

UP - Fazz Finding Himself (In a Non-Sexual Way I hope)

I think it's undeniable that this has been something of a down season for Fazz. He's a two time NFC Championship competitor and he's still winning plenty of games this year, but he's shown he's beatable. This one was a HUGE step in the right direction as the Vikings dismantled the Cowboys 42-21. Gram is tough, and while he's working with a rookie QB and the troubles that brings, he's usually not the type to get gouged for 42 points. If Fazz can keep the offensive production up (Dalvin Cook 18 rushes for 156 yards, 2 TDs, who would've thought that'd lead to wins?) then we could see the re-birth of Fazz.

DOWN - The Continued Downfall of Lawyer

Madden 18 was a long time ago. A long, long time ago. I think Rowin was like 12 back then. Meats was probably still a virgin. What was also happening back then was Lawyer was winning his first and only Simbardi in the SML. Jump forward to now and Lawyer is sitting with a heavily losing record not even being very competitive in games. Meats isn't a slouch, but you'd expect a better effort from a former champion than a 44-21 game. I know Lawyer can play decently when he wants to but he has really struggled to get his footing in Madden 21. Seeing games like this & seasons like Lawyer's having makes you think he might just not have it anymore.

DOWN - Coop's Refusal to Use Derrick Henry

Look, Coop, you're my guy. This pains me to say this but you really need to focus on not being dumb. Just pick any HB run, snap the ball, then fall forward 4+ yards. Repeat until you're in for a touchdown. It's the most simple equation in the entire SML but somehow you keep getting it wrong. In this awful 33-0 loss to the Jaguars Henry had 10 carries for 27 years. You need to pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers. Stop overcomplicating the process and enjoy the fruits of EA's broken gameplay. I expect better!

DOWN - Royce & the Panthers Fall to the Bengals

I honestly don't know if this game was played vs. a user or vs. CPU so I'm going to just judge at face value. TTS isn't bad & he can be nearly unstoppable when he gets it going, but the Panthers are expected to be BETTER. Whether this one was a result of Royce's play or Royce's unavailability, we are use to so much more from a guy that is suppose to be top competition in the NFC.

DOWN - Dan Keeps Winning Super Unspectacularly

I saw this box score and I was ready to give Dan another Up, but looking into this game I'm disappointed. I don't know how Dan keeps winning games by lopsided scores while having maybe the most boring box scores of all time. 9 carries, 32 yards, 3 TDs from Bo "Clearly Jerome Bettis" Elam. 18/22 for 203 yards 1 TD from Emory "Probably Just Trent Dilfer" Leverette. Dan's getting wins and that's ultimately what matters but it'd be nice if we could get a super sexy win for once.

UP - Dookie Stays Undefeated, Knocks Off Rams

This game looks like it was super close. 21-17 was the final, and by the looks of the box score it could've gone either way. I'm super skeptical of giving this Up because I'm sure Dookie feels like "he should've won by 34, he's the best in existence and RD couldn't be on his level in any situation," but I hope he can tell how close this win was. End of the day if you win tough games against tough competition, you likely deserve an Up.

UP - ZZ Wins What Looks Like a Force Win?

I don't know if this was a force win KC or what the situation was, but looking at the box score is weird. ZZ won 38-7 while going 20/25 for 3 TDs and 0 INTs with Mahomes and running the ball THIRTY EIGHT times. I find it hard to believe that ZZ could possibly control the ball that much and have that many pure plays in the clock without this being a sim, but I'm going to award an honorary Up just in case this was just the best game ZZ has ever played in his life.

UP - Miles Sanders Bails Chris Out

Holy shit this game. The 1 win Eagles vs. the 0 win Lions. Honestly, Chris should've won this one easily. I've played both quite often and can say confidently that Chris is the superior M21 player. That being said, Chris REALLY tried to lose this game. 14/19 with 3 INTs from Wentz. He allowed Kerryon Johnson to rush for 140 yards and 2 TDs. The ONLY reason that Chris won this game was because had an absurd 277 yards and 2 TDs w/ Miles Sanders. Be thankful that man is on your team because this would absolutely be a loss without his production.

DOWN - Nole Gets Dealt a Hand From Reality

Nole had been in a groove and on a nice run lately, but that came to a crushing halt at the hands of division rival Alex & the Jets. The Jets came away with a 1 touchdown win behind a controlled Aaron Rodgers and enough running game to get the job done. What Nole had been doing well during his come up was not turning the ball over and being very accurate w/ Jameis Winston. 14/25 and 3 INTs is a 180 degree turn from that and the result is a loss where he probably penciled in a win. For Nole to be great he has to get top notch QB play. That didn't happen & therefore we celebrate with a Down.

SML WEEK 9

DOWN - The Streak Continues w/ the Dookie Down

I've already gone in depth many times about why we start off our grading this way, and this entry is no different.

DOWN - Matt & Figg Play the Most Matt & Figg Game to Ever Matt & Figg.

17-17 tie. Maybe the two most boring teams in the SML. Maybe the two most bland rosters in the SML. I don't even know what to make of this game. On one hand, good job to both teams for holding the opponent to 17 points. I guess that's nice. On the other hand, someone really needs to have the ability to convert something late to win. This was a situation where both teams are bend but don't break while also being unbelievably impotent on offense. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. Big time down for both of you.

UP - Jordan Love Show His Potential, Luke Moreland Introduces Himself to the League

I love being able to give myself kudos. This was one of the last 2 games of the week this week & we sure put on a show for the people at home. My new playbook I've introduced lately has a lot more TE activity due to me drafting the rookie TE and acquiring Albert Okwuegbunam from the Broncos in the off-season. These two are both mismatches and I wanted to find a way to incorporate them effectivly. I'd say 12 receptions for 271 yards and 2 TDs from Moreland is fairly effective. Jordan Love finished at 17/18 for 387 yards and 3 TDs. He also tacked on 2 rushing TDs bringing his total to 5 on the day. This game does deserve a huge asterisk because it was against Detroit, but I'm going to take the wins where I can get them.

UP - Minnesota Hangs a Loss on WFT

Fazz found a way to win a tough game against a player he hadn't played before. The league is still getting a feel for the WFT owner and he's responded by playing everyone he's faced extremely close. Fazz continues to rely more heavily on Dalvin Cook accumulating 126 total yards and 2 total TDs to lead the way. WFT QB Adkins had 3 turnovers on the day which likely swung the momentum enough for Fazz to hang on. Great win for the Vikings as he's looking to have woken up after the early season slow start.

UP - We've Got a 50-Burger From Denver

Honestly, I hadn't seen the box score before writing the week 8 snippet. Dan gave me the slightly sexier victory I asked for without me knowing it. 52-14 is a rough score and looking over the box score it's not hard to see how we got here. ZZ gifted Dan 5 INTs (bad start) and Dan converted 4 grabs for 134 yards and 2 TDs with Hamler (giving ZZ a taste of his own medicine). Overally despite the score it was still a LITTLE undewhelming from a stat perspective (only ~100ish rushing yards, only 232 passing yards), but Dan clearly was working with the extreme charity ZZ was giving him. We'll consider this an Up.

DOWN - Grant Delpit Is Not a Bengal, TTS.

Joe Burrow - 8/20, 109 yards, 0 TDs, 5 INTs. Grant Delpit - 1 Tackle, 5 INTs. Dude, what? That safety doesn't play for you. I can't even understand how a non-user LB/CB even gets 5 INTs in one game. Stop throwing at him. You've got at least 3 other locations you can throw to and this one was CLEARLY not working. Throw anywhere else. Run the ball. Hell, take a knee. After the 2nd INT you need to just not look that direction. I call it the Darius Slay rule. If a guy is literally owning your soul, pretend he's not on the field and refuse to throw at him. I'm really hoping I missed something here and Delpit was actually just invisible and TTS physically couldn't see him.

DOWN - Dookie Wins, Still Complains

The final in the TB/BAL game was 42-35 Bucs. It was seemingly a good game that the Bucs fought hard to win. Reddick threw a couple INTs which is uncharacteristic and NYT struggled to find consistency with Lamar. This is very clearly a game that should've ended in a GG, well played finish. I remember Dookie coming into chat and complaining about basically not winning by more. Come on, man. Take your win and move on. Take this second Down from me in this week's entry as well. You can be a competitor while remaining humble.

DOWN - FutureEmpire or FutureBottomFeeder?

What a weird turn of events in the AFC West. When QB left the league what was perceived to be the strongest division has somehow morphed into a super strange stud & duds division. The defending champion Dan leads the way w/ the Broncos, but the other 3 teams are lagging FAR behind. With QB gone Future should've been the clearly 2nd best team in the division but he has failed time and time again to capitalize and cement himself as such. Dropping a game to the Chargers 24-17 is really a bad look. DW isn't a bad player by any means and I'm not surprised to see him win this, but I expect so much more from Future. He's one of the smartest guys I've played and I know he's better than this. Here's to hoping he can figure it out in Las Vegas and bring the Raiders back to a playoff potential team.

UP - Prime Continues Righting His Wrongs

This has been a hell of a season for Prime. I can't really deny it, none of us can. As much as we'd probably collectively like for him to finish outside of the playoffs and have to shut his mouth for a bit, he's coming up big this year. He's 2-0 against Bomber and 1-0 against Dan. He's sitting with 1 loss on the season and has all the momentum in the world. That being said -- he's not even playing as his best. He's got 1 loss and he's making a shit load of mistakes along the way. This is a scary situation because if he cleans it up he could be unstoppable, but come playoff time if he keeps making the mistakes he's making in a win or go home situation he could find himself going home. I hope he see this as a warning of the writing on the wall and figures it out. Or don't. I don't mind if you lose.

UP - Matt Breida Has a Huge Game

I'm trying to take away all my personal bias and ignore the fact that this was probably like 95% stretch/outside runs and just give an Up to a guy who had a good game. Pauly led Matt Breida to 206 yards on 13 rushes and 4 TDs. Clearly a lot of big plays involved, and again, I find it nearly impossible to think this wasn't the situaiton explained before, but have an Up for this week's result, Pauly.

UP - Rowin Leans on Saquon, Strangly Finds a Great Running Game is Good

25 rushes, 173 yards, 3 TDs for Saquon. Rowin isn't exactly known as a run first guy, so I hope this opens his eyes a bit on how much of a true weapon Saquon can be. Baker was fairly pedestrian not having any TDs and throwing 2 INTs, but the run game and defense (two things Rowin is NOT known for) came up big and keeps Rowin in 2nd place in the NFC East and looking for a playoff spot. It's a huge blow to gram who had a slightly uglier game (3 INTs from Dak, I'm assuming in relief). The 2nd spot in the NFC East is anyone's to claim and I'd expect next year some regression from WFT also. This division is WIDE OPEN in the NFC and any of these guys can claim it (except maybe Chris).

SML WEEK 10

*Writer's Note* Dookie will not be receiving a Dookie Down for this week. I've been not as active in chat, but I haven't noticed any truly Dookie-Level Appalling Bullshit from him from what I have seen. Let's keep that up and see if we can make it two in a row in week 11.

UP - DW Finds Recipe vs. Prime, Falls Short

I'm going to give DW an up despite the loss because he not only played Prime close, but put on display the recipe for defeating him down the road. Our final was 27-24 with Prime winning yet another, but it wasn't perfect. DW ran 22 times for 117 yards and 3 total TDs from Austin Ekeler. He was able to sack Prime twice as well as force 3 INTs. Prime was held relatively in check on the ground and was forced to spread the ball around to all of his receivers. If Herbert doesn't throw 2 INTs or DW gets one more stop, we could easily be looking at a stunning upset. It's something positive to build upon and something DW shouldn't be upset about. AFC Guys -- This is how you beat Prime.

UP - Cardinals Destroy Raiders

Yeesh. The fall continues for Future. Meats and the Cardinals won 38-7 in what I can only assume was an uncomfortable game. Future threw 4 total INTs between 2 QBs and scored zero TDs thru the air. The run game behind Jacobs, Richard, and Van Dyke was vanilla to be kind. Meats & his Mutants continued their hatred for QBs and passing to their own receivers with Isaiah Simmons grabbing 2 of the INTs. Meats won a big game against a struggling owner and that's exactly what he has to do to stay ahead in the NFC West.

UP - Tinnie Loses, Plays Tough, Doesn't Rage Quit vs. Dump

I give the guy a lot of grief, but Tiny tried to win this game. Dump only won by a TD, but it appears that Tiny did a good job of limiting the passing game while TRYING to play effectively on offense. I'll never forget that dumb trade you made and I'll never think you're anything but below average regarding Madden, but you do deserve an Up here for a legitimately good effort against top competition. A couple tweaks and lab time could go a long way, Tiny.

DOWN - Rowin Fails to Score 40+ Against Lions

This should've been a gimme. The Lions are a roster right now that is in a REALLY bad place and Rowin's got the sort of offensive firepower to score early and often. The result was a 35-24 victory that I can't help but feel should've been worse. I don't mean to constantly shit on Hova and be extremely negative, but the Lions team is really THAT bad. The game scores each week should be something around 35-7 or 49-14. Any result that's less is at risk of receiving a Down, and that's what I'm giving Rowin this week. There's no reason why Baker should have less than 200 yards passing.

UP - Jaguars Knock Off WFT Late, Win 24-17.

If this Ups & Downs were based on the first half of this game, it'd be going the other way. WFT controlled the game for almost 3 quarters before falling on his face in a cartoonish way late. Bomber was super out of sorts and in full on COME ON mode early, but the end was much more favorable. QP decided the best way to win this one would be to throw 5 INTs with his QB and rush for under 4 YPC. This one was all around ugly & WFT probably deserves a down more than Bomber deserves an Up, but we're going positive this route. #longlivethebushwhackers

FINAL THREE WEEK TALLY: 15 Ups, 13 Downs

Overall, I'm going to look back at these 3 weeks in a positive light. It was Christmas, the final week was cut short (more on that momentarily), and I think there was more good than bad overall. Enjoy a League Wide Overall Up from these 3 weeks. Let's get more competitive positive results starting in week 11 :)

Normally we finish off our articles by awarding the Shame Belt to the owner that prevented progress the most. This is a prestigeous award that's intended to be a kick in the ass for those that "win" it. That being said, we're awarding out Shame Belt to an owner this week for not halting progress, but for surprisingly speeding up progress. For the first time in the SML history, there was an accidental advance. Therefore, we have a brand new champion.

SML Shame Belt History

1. Nole/LatinYank

2. Nole

3. Royce

4. ZZ

It's that time again! Let's look at this past week's happenings and give out some Ups & Downs.

DOWN - Dookie

As is tradition, we will start off our week with the "Dookie Down." His recent "attitude change" is evident, but the insincerity and obvious eye-roll-worthy comments are thinly veiled. Dookie, you're not THAT bad of a guy, but still enjoy your down.

UP - MikeFML

You know what? It's my column, my world, my rules. I'm giving myself an Up! Yes, I lost again. Yes, I'm making it a habit to play the most painful games in Madden. BUT -- I think we're making progress. Offensively I've been more consistently effective recently than I normally am. I put together a new playbook this past week before I played Fazz and I think I felt very comfortable with it. Rookie TE Luke Moreland had 4 grabs for 111 yds and a TD. Despite the losing tendencies, I think we're going to cut myself a break and go Up here.

UP - NoleOverlord

Look at him go. Nole defeats the previously hot Patriots and pulls even with Matt in the division at 4-3. Both of these teams are sorta middling with strengths and weaknesses, but Nole seems to be capitalizing this year on his opportunities. He had another solid game this week with Jameis Winston and was able to run for 140 yards on a normally stout Matt-led defense. Overall in this battle of previously hot owners, the Bills and Nole were able to take it home.

DOWN - Rdguard's Connection Luck

Poor RD. The Rams/Raiders played 4 times and RD was in relative control the first 3 games. Each of those first 3 games disconnected. On the 4th try after trailing a good portion of the first half RD took the lead only to throw a crushing INT TD late that ultimatelyh led to the result. If any of the first 3 games held up, RD probably walks out with a win. As it stands, he's at 3-3 in a very tough division.  It's not too late, but this was definitely a game he could've won.

DOWN - Tennessee Titans QB Situation

Word coming out of Tennesse is that 2nd year QB Andre Young has lost his starting job. After putting up only 14 points and throwing 3 INTs against the Giants this is understandable. Coop & the Titans have been looking for consistency at the QB position since the start of the franchise. They have an all-world HB and enough on defense to keep games close. What they're missing is that reliable passer that can do enough to not lose games. Andre Young was losing too many games. We'll see if the next starter is a good change for the Titans.

UP - Figg & the Bears

Figg is on a little bit of a hot streak right now after defeating the Lions 27-7. He's raised his W/L record to 4-3 on the year and is easily in 2nd place in the NFC North behind Fazz. Technically this is still a winnable division since Fazz has struggled, but overall the improvement for Figg is noticeable. He seems to be running the ball more while improving his defensive gameplay. If this keeps up he might be able to threaten for a playoff spot, but some regression to the mean is probably in play here.

UP - Dan Beats Pauly at Paulyball

What an ugly ass box score. The Broncos defeated the Dolphins 28-17, but the story of this game deserves a closer look. Emory Leverette finished the game 9/9 for 144 yds, and 0 TD/INT. The Broncos HB tandem combined for 25 carries, 155 yds, and 4 TDs. Simply put, Dan played Pauly's game and beat him at it. A week after I struggled to do that exact thing, Dan showed the AFC how it's done. You've got to win ugly and boring to beat Pauly and that's exactly what Dan did.

DOWN - LA Chargers Lack of Identity

What exactly is this team? Anyone? Yeah, I don't know either. The core stats on defense seem fine for DW - 11th in total yards allowed, 14th in passing yards, 7th in rushing yards yet his stils 25th in points allowed. He's getting absolutely lit up despite not giving up a lot of yards. The problem is probably mostly in his impotent offense. The Chargers are not scoring points (unless they play Dump which is not currently a surprise) and it appears to be putting them in holes they can't dig themselves out of. The AFC is a rough top end conference but when you're finishing 3rd/4th in your division and get the schedule that goes along with it there's really no reason why anyone can't be an 8-8 team at least. Big down for losing a winnable game against the Chiefs.

DOWN - NYT's Weird Offensive Gameplan

Lamar Jackson, 4 INTs. 13 total rushes. 9 catches by JK Dobbins. This entire gameplan was a mess and it's not a surprise the end result was a 25-14 loss to the Colts. Prime continued to play average at the QB position throwing 2 INTs, NYT held his run game in check, and yet it doesn't seem like the end was even as close as the score. NYT this is a direct challenge to you -- I want to see more runs with Lamar and I want to see more Hollywood Brown. You should be running 5-10 times a game with Lamar and really leaning into the curve. Make sure they're designed runs so you're not being Meats-level Cheese with Lamar, but utilize your weapons, man!

DOWN - Whatever Happened in JAX vs. HOU

Okay so the result was 28-14 Jaguars win, which makes all the sense in the world. What doesn't make sense is how Houston turns it over 5 times and Bomber only converts 4 touchdowns. This game probably should've been closer to 49-14. Houston - take care of the ball! Jacksonville - Where's the killer instinct? This game is underwhelming on both sides so you both get a down here.

UP - WFT's Streak Continues

QP continues to step up in big games. He beat Prime (kinda) he held strong and came back vs. me (not too surprising) and he more or less controlled this game against Gram and the Cowboys. If he keeps notching quality wins and providing consistent competition on a weekly basis he will be a threat in top of the NFC. I don't think he's as good as some of the other teams we have there YET, but the guy has upped his game in every big moment so far.  He's only going to get more comfortable w/ the team and he appeared on F&G this past episode. We love it when new guys jump in with the activity and participate in the content, so this is a big up in multiple ways for whoever the WFT's owner is.

DOWN - Seahawks Defense

Damn, normally it's Tiny being awful on offense that is his problem. This week he decided to shake things up and give being terrible on defense a try. Colt & the Saints aren't a BAD offensive team but they're not a 34 points and 4 TDs from Minshew team.  Tiny got ass blasted all over the field via the pass as Hayden Hurst caught 7 for 125 and Alvin Kamara had 137 all purpose yards and 1 TD. Rough go for our guy Tiny. At least David Moore caught 2 TDs, I guess? You'd think the Seahawks would have more recognizable WR talent....

FINAL TALLY: 5 Up, 7 Down. A below average week in the SML. STEP IT UP FELLAS, GIVE ME SOMETHING TO BE POSITIVE ABOUT!

Now the moment we've all been waiting for. Our main event of the evening. After a hard fought two week reign for NoleOverlord...we have a NEW SHAME BELT "CHAMPION."

Our resident narcoleptic Carolina Panthers owner was unable to find a workable time to play SantaMeats and therefore this game wound up being a force win for the Cardinals. It's refreshing to see someone dethrone our previously undefeated champion and the smart money was on Royce eventually taking this title. Hopefully things get rectified next week and we have a new "champion" once again! Congratulations, Royce, stop it.

SML Shame Belt History

1. NoleOverlord/LatinYank

2. NoleOverlord

3. RollsRoyce

Howdy everyone & welcome back to the newest (and hopefully soon to be favorite) weekly column in the SML; SML Ups & Downs. Our job is simple -- scope the league from the past in-game week and be the ultimate judge by giving the good stuff an up & the bad stuff a down. Without wasting much time, let's get into it.

DOWN

- Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Dookie 

Dookie locks in his "Dookie Down" by continuing his undefeated streak of saying dumb stuff on the internet. Death, taxes, and the Dookie Down. They're inevitable, and we'll see it back next week.

DOWN

- San Francisco 49ers/Dump

Dump took an actual dump on the field this past week against the Bucs, putting out not only a dreadful 38-14 final score, but going next level in regards to poor QB play. Second year QB Trevor Hartwig's final line was 8/20, 62 yds, 0 TDs, 3 INTs. This might be the worst QB stat line of the season and it's a bar that even our dear KJ could probably pass with ease. I picked you to handle business vs. Dookie on Heat Check, Dump! Why'd you go and let me down like that? Down.

UP

- Denver Broncos/Dan

Dan rebounds as a champion should by defeating Meats 28-24. It wasn't the cleanest game from either player, but ultimately Dan won (in part because of a really questionable play call late from Meats). Ultimately the only thing that matters in the end is wins or losses, and Dan comes back from that awful game vs. Prime to defeat one of the NFC's front runners. He's going to need to clean up his QB play if he wants to repeat, however.

DOWN

- New York Giants/Rowin

Last season Rowin caught some undeserved judgement, but this season it's fully on him. Rowin fell to 2-4 on the season after a miserable 42-14 loss at the hands of the Washington Football Team. A week after I lost a grueling low-scoring game to Washington, Rowin apparently thought it would be a cool idea to throw 4 INTs and give up almost 50 points. Not sure the logic that goes into that one, but that's not the direction you want to be going, friend.

UP

- Indianapolis Colts/Prime-Time000

Another week, another big game, another win. Prime continues to prove the nay-sayers wrong. Is this the start of that magical season for Prime? Beating the Jaguars goes a long way toward that goal, as these two will be fighting tooth and nail to the finish line for seeding. Frank George was pretty bad with Prime clearly playing it safe. Josh Allen was markedly awful, throwing 4 INTs on terrible passes (as Josh Allen does). Just like the Dan/Meats game, however, the W is the stat that counts the most here. Prime and Bomber are matched in the L column now, but Prime holds that ever-important first H2H win.

UP

- New England Patriots/Matt

Matt and the Patriots improve to 4-2 on the season, defeating perennial NFC favorite Fazz 28-14. Fazz was surprisingly poor in this one, converting 0 passing TDs to 3 INTs. Matt, on the other hand, played a Matt game, going 5-8 with Drew Lock for 123 yards and rushing 18 times for 163 yards with Rashaad Penny. These are two good teams & this game doesn't really mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but after beating Pauly the week before Matt continues his early season surge by knocking off the defending NFC Champion.

UP

- Buffalo Bills/Nole/Jameis Winston

It looks like Nole had a throwback game this week. Jameis Winston was unstoppable on the day finishing 19/19 for 277 yds, and 3 TDs. When you force zero incompletions, you're probably gonna have a bad time, and that was the case with the Bills winning handily 35-14. Is this the start of the rebound for Nole? Probably not, but maybe! Either way, he gets an up this week.

DOWN

- Green Bay Packers/MikeFML

Heyyyy back to back weeks where I get to shit on myself. Okay, so full disclosure I put myself on tilt super early in the game. I don't like feeling cheated and seeing effectively nothing but C3 base align for the entire 1st half put me in a bad mood. I can't let this happen and expect to win. The game started off well offensively, but quickly spiraled. Jordan Love had a poor game throwing 4 INTs. It seemed like anytime I tried to throw for any distance he'd sail it to the defender. It's one of those games, but we definitely need a shock to the system to hopefully jolt us into gear. We're working on some playbook changes heading into this week's game, but it's really not the start we wanted. BIG DOWN, MIKE.

DOWN

- Detroit Lions/Hova/Jacoby Brissett

Not to continue to kick a man while he's down, but Jacoby Brissett has been miserable this year. Brissett has a 55% completion rate, 7.2 average, and 6/16 TD/INT ratio. These are numbers that aren't helpful toward the goal of winning and if Hova wants to even pretend to be competitive he's going to have to clean it up. That didn't happen this week, as the Lions fell to the Falcons 42-27. Maybe next game!

DOWN

- Carolina Panthers/Pittsburgh Steelers Fans

Oof. Trace McSorley vs. Daniel Jones isn't exactly a marquee QB match up, but this game went mostly how you'd expect it to. The Panthers took care of business, the Steelers couldn't score or defend, and that was that. Ugly game for the fans to watch.

UP

- Seattle Seahawks/Tiny

SEAHAWKS WIN, SEAHAWKS WIN, THEEEEE SEAHAWKS WIIIIIIN. Unnnnfortunately it was against ZZ and the terrible Chiefs, but Tiny will take this. It might be the first time this cycle Tiny didn't throw an INT in a game (not fact-checking that), but Tiny actually appears to have played competant offense. ZZ continues to live dangerously via Hill/Kelce/Hardman, with Mahomes throwing more INTs than TDs this game. It's hard to know how many wins these teams will be able to find on their schedules considering their divisional competition, but it's nice for Tiny to be able to be happy for once.

DOWN

- The SML Voters

I'm going to post a direct quote from another article ( https://www.daddyleagues.com/sml/blog/news/40515/SML-SEASON-3-PREDICITIONS )

Ahem.

"Vikings (Fazz) led the division in total votes with 23 total. Lions (Hova) finished in 2nd place with 2 votes. Bears (Figgnewton) finished in 3rd with 1 vote. Packers (MikeFML) did not receive a single vote."

Are all of you fucking high? I don't mind not receiving votes, but for Hova of all people to finish 2nd is insane. Keeps your memes on Reddit & Twitter and vote with your non-damaged brains in SML.

FINAL TALLY:  5 Up, 7 Down. A below average week in the SML!

THE SHAME BELT

Now it's time to award our prestigeous hardware. A week after becoming the first time Shame Belt Champion, NoleOverlord retains his title. I'm not sure who was most at fault for this last game, but since Nole is the defending Champion I'm giving him the nod. Congratulations on your title retention! STOP IT.

Welcome to this week’s installment of SML Ups & Downs. 

We’ll be taking a broad look at this past week’s SML games and identifying the players/owners that deserve an Up and the ones that deserve a Down.

______________________________________________________________________________

Up: 

Indianapolis Colts/Prime-Time000

• This one’s pretty straight forward. In a game where the majority thought Dan would win, Prime showed he’s not done yet. He controlled the game for the entire first half into the third, until he got a little reckless and let Dan fight back in it a bit. Ultimately though, it’s a huge win for Prime and a big Up in this week’s rundown.

Down:

Denver Broncos/Dan

• If we’re going to give Prime an Up for the game, Dan deserves a down. What a mess that was. I was on the call for the game and was openly negative toward Dan, who I expected to show up and beat Prime. What we got instead was a bizarre game plan and terrible execution. Dan spent what seemed like an eternity playing light on defense letting Prime run all over him for easy gains. On offense, Dan telegraphed throws to blatantly covered receivers. I struggle to find a lot of positive out of this one aside from a suggestion for an episode of SML Conspiracy Theories -- Did Dan Intentionally Lose?

Up:

New England Patriots/Matt

• Matt pulls off a huge win against a playoff contender in Pauly, showing he’s not going to go lightly and let Pauly take the AFC East. A 31-24 F on paper that looks very unsexy on the scoreboard (as a game between these two would suggest), but in the end Matt won it ugly and tied Pauly in the win column. 

Up:

Kansas City Chiefs/ZZ

• ZZ shocks the world and upends Future, 28-7. I remember a lot of games like this vs. ZZ last year when I was in his division, but it was usually the other way around. Instead, ZZ had a balanced attack and appears to have played exceptional defense, shutting down a passing game that had been electric a week earlier against San Francisco. It goes to show you the depth of the SML with a perennial bottom-feeder dismantling a yearly contender. Good job, ZZ.

Down:

Pittsburgh Steelers/KJ & Chicago Bears/Figg

• I really don’t want to kick the men while they’re down too much, but come on guys. So far this season the Steelers have scored 43 points in 5 games while allowing 178. That is INSANE. The Bears have scored 78 points in 5 games while allowing 147. Get it together! If you’re going to be bad on offense, be good on defense. If you’re going to have a shit defense, you need to be dynamic on offense (looking at you Rowin). You can’t be bad at both. Kick it into gear and start putting some points on the board!

Up: 

New York Giants/Rowin

• What a win! Rowin came out and proved all the doubters wrong, seemingly handling Fazz 20-10. Fazz is a guy that hasn’t lost many regular season match-ups, so this one came as a shock to the system. This game seems to mirror the ZZ/Future game in where Rowin was balanced and seemed to control the ball for a long time, not really allowing Fazz to operate offensively. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Rowin won’t allow only 10 points often, so this is likely an outlier. That being said, great job.

Up:

Tennessee Titans/Coop

• This was a fun game to watch. It was hard fought down to the wire, with Coop eventually winning on a basically walk-off TD from Derrick Henry. Henry was held in check for most of the game with 14 carries for 35 yards, but the most important play was the game winner. Coop will take the low yardage total for a win every time. 

Down:

Green Bay Packers/MikeFML

• How does one start talking to themselves about themselves? Hey, MikeFML, stop being an unclutch asshole that shits away games late. You basically dominated ball control and were in the driver’s seat the entire game, until you decided late to suck ass and lose. Stop doing that.

Up:

Arizona Cardinals/Meats & Los Angeles Rams/RD QB Efficiency

• 22/24, 310 Yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. That’s the combined QB line for these two teams. In what was a very close, very hard fought win for the Cardinals, these two operated almost surgically with their passing plays. You’d like to see more TDs, but it says a lot that the only incompletion the Rams had all day was an interception.

Down:

Arizona Cardinals/Meats & Los Angeles Rams/RD Pass Defense

• Hey guys, how about on the back end of that we learn how to break up a pass or ten? Sound good? Good.

Down:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers/Dookie

• Just because.

Final Tally: 6 Ups, 5 Downs. An average week in the SML!

______________________________________________________________________________

SML Shame Belt “Champion”

These “titles” will be “awarded” to the user(s) each week that halts progress the latest. This week’s first official champion is a shared title, going to both Hova and Nole for delaying their game until around an hour or so before advance. Enjoy our inaugural belts, please lose them next week.

The SML M21 Team Selection Draft has come and gone and a new league year is upon us. While the majority of us are familiar with each other, the results of the team draft itself has long lasting impact on our individual experiences over the course of a cycle. Let's take a deep dive and give some quick thoughts on every team selection choice and division for the SML this year.

AFC East - Pauly, Nole, Latinyank, PJ

What a mixed bag this group is. Pauly & Nole were perennial playoff contenders last year, while PJ and Latinyank were…..not. PJ has been long preached as an up and comer and someone that can legitimately play upper level Madden, but since I’ve been in the SML I haven’t personally seen it. With the Patriots he’s got something of a rebuild, but a team that can compete from day 1 with the right decisions. Pauly, notorious for his specific playstyle in M20, has a new offense to build and a defense to rework. It will be interesting to see his team building style this year starting from day 1 opposed to coming in late. Last season he essentially traded away 100% of his draft picks for aging veterans. Will the youthful Miami roster prove different? Pauly has an explosive HB in Matt Breida and the framework of a franchise QB in T’ua Tagovailoa, but learning the ins and outs of this year’s game will be something to watch. Latinyank gets his Jets. I think this team took a MASSIVE boost when TinyTitans went to the Seahawks -- the Jets are a blank slate to build on, and having all of Tiny’s juicy first round picks should bear fruit. That being said, Latinyank is probably in for a long cycle. Last but not least is my former division mate in Nole (or Noel if you’re ZZ). Nole knows what he likes in his teams and I’d fully expect him to build similarly as he did last cycle. He’s upgraded from Murphy-Bunting to Tre White and instead of Jameis Winston he’s now got Josh Allen. It’s not hard to see the parallels in Tampa Bay in M20 and Buffalo in M21. I fully expect Buffalo to hit the ground running and compete for multiple division titles this year.

Front Runner: Nole

Wild Card: Pauly

Too Early to Tell: PJ, Latinyank

AFC North - NYT, TTS, Woods, KJ

I love the stability of this division. While no one is what you’d probably consider “elite,” everyone in this division is a high quality player and capable of winning the division. TTS is looking to rebound from a very poor M20 which saw him make (I think) only one playoff appearance. Cincinnati is one of the trendier teams to start with due to Joe Burrow being a Superstar and the roster being “okay but not great.” I’d expect him to ride Mixon hard and work to build Burrow over the 5 years of his rookie deal. NYT “broke out” kind of in M20 with his first Super Bowl appearance and multiple playoff appearances in general. While the Ravens provide a different challenge than the Falcons did last year, it’s hard to not see NYT continuing his recent trend. The Ravens team has elite offensive firepower that he should be able to utilize to its max, and enough defense to get stops. NYT is far more of an offensive player than a defensive one, so leaning hard into the curve isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Woods is back for a 2nd consecutive season in Cleveland. Any chance he trades Baker Mayfield this time? My guess is he’s learned from that mistake. The advantage he has from go is he knows exactly how this team functions. He knows what he needs to acquire and what he can afford to let go. Not having to play Meats twice a year is probably a win, but NYT from an offensive side is just as difficult to gameplan as Meats was. Last but not least is everyone’s friend KJ. KJ has a really unique opportunity here with a Pittsburgh roster that has a very strong foundation. He’s got a lot to prove, however, with an extremely lackluster M20 cycle weighing over him. The Steelers are about 500% better than the M20 Dolphins, so anything other than a constant .500 and ambitions for playoff appearances has to be considered a disappointment. 

Front Runner: NYT, Woods

Wild Card: TTS

Too Early to Tell: KJ

AFC South - Prime, Coop, Bomber, TBD

Another cycle, another year of Prime going to the Colts. It’s amazing year in and year out when he seems to get so many people to believe he’d actually pass on the Colts. Prime knows how to build the Colts and M21 will be no different. It will be interesting to see if he rolls with Rivers year 1 or goes all in with Jacob Eason. Prime could probably start the rookie, win AROY, get a dev upgrade and be set for the cycle with an amazing young (Madden) QB. Coop picking up the ball Tiny fumbled and going to the Titans isn’t very surprising. Coop likely wasn’t expecting the Titans to be available, so them falling to him at this pick was probably something of a win. The roster has buildable assets on both sides, but really has questions at the quarterback position. An invested Coop is a quality team builder and he can compete with anyone when he wants to. It’s a virtual lock that Coop will do better with this team than what Tiny could ever dream of. Bomber has to be ELATED that the Jaguars were available when he was on the clock. This Jaguars team is honestly underrated and the defense has the makings of a truly elite unit. Losing Ngakoue hurts a little bit, but it also frees him up from the decision of having to give him big money immediately. I think Bomber is the type of player that can absolutely succeed with Gardner Minshew, and if he sorts out the HB position he’s lined up for a successful cycle on both sides of the ball. The Houston Texans falling to the 32nd pick is both hilarious and shocking. As a Colts fan, that team deserves the worst. As a Madden player, are you guys nuts? Deshaun Watson and that offense are worthy of a middle pick, and somehow here they are going undrafted. Crazy.

Front Runner: Prime

Wild Card: Bomber, Coop

Too Early to Tell: TBD Texans Owner

AFC West - ZZ, Future, QB, Dan

Oh my god...poor ZZ. I mentioned in the groupchat that ZZ might never win this season after Future took the Raiders...then he was joined by both QB and Dan. Future, QB, and Dan might be the 3 most consistent players on both sides of the ball. ZZ might be the least consistent player in the league (and that’s saying a lot considering who is typing this). This has all the makings of a really brutal cycle for ZZ, but time will tell. The good thing for him is that the Chiefs offense is set for the entire cycle; Mahomes to Hill will be a constant. If ZZ can figure out the cap and build a defense around him, it’s possible that he could get some momentum built. Future taking the Raiders sent shockwaves throughout the SML. The Raiders should be an extremely fun adventure for him this cycle with Ruggs, Jacobs, and a workable defense being bright spots for him. What happens at QB and how he finishes the defensive build will decide how his M21 goes. QB taking the Chargers was one of the best outcomes for him. I know from my talks with him privately that this is a team that he was looking forward to as a real option and it’s easy to see why. They’ve got one of the top young buildable QBs in Justin Herbert and a defense that’s going to be nasty from day one. He’s definitely going to need to finish up the defense and get some more weapons for Herbert, but this is a situation where seasons 2 and beyond he could really take off. Last but not least is Dan going for the Broncos. How the Broncos fell is beyond me. They were my #1 team for a long time because the offense is insane. Dan should do a better job developing Drew Lock than I did last year, and he’s got almost too many weapons around him from go. The defense is going to need a lot of work, especially at linebacker, but he’s got some notable pieces in Simmons and Chubb and some guy named Von Miller. Dan caught some flak for not going AFC South as he sorta eluded to before the draft, but I think taking this Broncos team is probably more impressive than playing Prime twice a year. There are 3 absolute top tier playoff contenders in this one division and it’s going to be a dogfight every step of the way.

Front Runner: QB, Dan, Future

0-16 every year: zztheprobablysadboy 

NFC East - Gram, Rowin, Blunt, Chris

Gram is probably relieved to get a little bit of a break from the constant battle that was the NFC East last cycle. There was a real chance that the Cowboys weren’t going to be available for him this year, but lo and behold at the end of the day all is right in the world and Gram was able to lock in his main team. The Cowboys are better than they were last year and Gram is a smart team builder so I’d definitely expect him to compete from day 1. There shouldn’t be any season lulls for him this time around, so anything other than 10 wins a year is going to be a disappointment for gram. Chris might be the hottest player coming into the start of a cycle, and he’s got an interesting Eagles team to work with. The cap situation is supposedly brutal, but my guess is that can be solved fairly easy after one off-season. This is proving time for Chris, however. As an original Primer guy he was good with the Primer Chiefs and hot and cold with the SML Broncos. He’s a quality player and this is his opportunity to cement himself as a real threat in the SML. Rowin taking the Giants was a little bit out of left field, but he seems confident in the fit. Saquon Barkley will be devastating, but at the same time Rowin has always been a pass-first player. Figuring out balance should help him cut down on the INTs while also properly utilizing his best weapon. The defense is going to be a work in progress, but he’ll have the opportunity to learn on the fly playing top tier offenses from Dallas and Philadelphia. Blunt is back home in Washington with the Football Team. Blunt is always a mixed bag; generally speaking if he can run the ball he does well, but if you stop the run it gets ugly quick. This fact gets even sketchier when you consider that he HAS to throw the ball with Haskins if he hopes to develop him properly into the franchise QB that he’s going to need. Having Scary Terry at WR and maybe the most terrifying pass rush in the game will go a long way, but he’s competing with 3 very smart owners in his division.

Front Runner: Gram

Wild Card: Chris, Rowin

Too Early to Tell: Blunt

NFC North - MikeFML, Fazz, Figg, Hova

For some the first “surprise” pick of the day was me taking the Packers at 5. I could go on and on about the exact reasonings for this pick, but at the end of the day I think this is somehow an underrated team. The defense is built to win now and win in the future, and much of the same can be said about the offense. The key to this team will be figuring out how to properly use Aaron Rodgers while also developing Jordan Love for long term use. I haven’t quite decided how I’m going to go about this yet, but expect to see them both get snaps year 1 and beyond. Fazz having the Vikings fall to him is perhaps a win from his POV. He’s got some work to do with the whole Kirk Cousins thing and the defense being good now but getting old quick, but he’s got a true game changer in Dalvin Cook and workable pieces sprinkled throughout. Figg going the Bears is a little surprising, but he’s got the opportunity to build a team from day 1 and really take something of an artistic approach. Having Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, and Tarik Cohen isn’t the worst starting point, but he’s going to have to quickly figure out QB and an aging CB room. This is a team that can either go well or sour quickly; it will be interesting to see which direction Figg takes. Lastly is our latest Primer addition with Hova going to the Lions (and leaving the Texans on the board at his pick). This Lions team is bad. It’s marred by unathletic players and terrible contracts. If you squint hard enough you can sorta see a workable foundation, but it’s going to take not only time but also above average stick play. With a lot of unknown coming from the new guy, it’s gonna be fun to watch and see how it plays out.

Front Runner: Fazz

Wild Card: Mike

Too Early to Tell: Figg, Hova

NFC South - Royce, Lawyer, Field, Colt

This is going to be a fun division. Royce landed his Panthers, but perhaps at the worst time as they’re in a transition phase. Will Teddy Bridgewater be the answer? My guess is no, but Royce has the ability to win with him if he chooses. CMC and DJ Moore will be game breakers that he’ll utilize to their fullest, and the defense is young and buildable. Not having Keuchly at LB will be felt instantly, but that’s possibly the only defensive position of need out of the gate. Lawyer, also, is back where he belongs with his favorite team. He had an up and down M20 with the Packers, but he’ll find much needed familiarity with the Falcons team he supports. The roster is middle of the pack with a lot of questions, but he’s got a lot of really quality weapons in Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Keanu Neal. Re-uniting (and it feels so good) with late season stud Todd Gurley will be interesting to see. This team’s got just as much of a chance as any to compete. THIS IS FIELD’S YEAR! This Tampa Bay team is almost a perfect fit for him and I fully expect him to be engaged and committed to rebounding from an awful M20 cycle. There’s almost too much on the offensive side and the defense has a good mix of young and old (David, Murphy-Bunting, the LB I’m forgetting the name of). If not now, when? There’s no excuse for not succeeding with this team in this division, it’s time for Field to show the league he’s still got it. Colt to the Saints is possibly one of the best options for him. He’ll have a new challenge this year in replacing a QB (but he did trade Kyler Murray last year, so maybe it’s not all that new). Alvin Kamara is terrifying in early gameplay and Michael Thomas will be a reliable option in the passing game. He’ll have his hands full defensively containing his division mates, but I’m sure he’ll be up to the task.

Front Runner: Lawyer, Royce

Wild Card: Field

Too Early to Tell: Colt

NFC West - Meats, Tiny, Cobra, Dump

#beatthemeats. With the 3rd pick in the team draft, Meats is heading to Arizona. He’s in for a mini-Baltimore experience here with Kyler Murray and A LOT of speed. Hopkins and Isabella will be a nightmare for the rest of the NFC West, and Simmons will be fun to develop on the defensive end. Meats is a good team builder and I expect this Cardinals team to be a top tier team for the entire cycle. Dump going to the 49ers is possibly a match made in heaven. Not only does he have an offense with several weapons from go, he’s got a borderline elite defense. This is exactly what I’d like to see from him as he’s a great offensive player and an average defensive one. He can supplement the offense with some pieces to fit his style and lean heavily on his very powerful defensive weapons. Meats vs. Dump is a marquee match-up to look forward to. Cobra going to the Rams was somewhat of a shocker with the teams left on the board at the time, but he must feel strongly about his ability to compete with a lesser roster. The Rams have not a lot of bright spots, but at least they do have Jalen Ramsey I guess. I don’t expect this team to be competitive at all -- maybe even all cycle. Last but not least in not only the division but this entire review is TinyTitans. Our guy JRob deviated from his normal Titans selection to take the very talented Seattle Seahawks. Much like his fellow Tenneseean KJ, he’s got a lot to prove this year. He can’t any longer lean on the “Oh I’m playing Prime, I should lose. I’m the Titans, I should lose.” He’s now the Seahawks. He has Russell Wilson. He has Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams. There’s no excuse for Tiny not competing and producing winning seasons. The one thing heavily going against him is he won’t have 1st round picks until year 3. This I previously viewed as a massive win for the Jets and Latinyank, and likewise it’s a huge loss for Tiny. In a division that has two top tier competitors and a third wildcard, Tiny can’t afford to both lose and not have draft picks. If he doesn’t win from day one it’s going to ruin his entire cycle. The pressure is on, Tiny.

Front Runner: Meats, Dump

Too Early to Tell: Tiny, Cobra

And that does it! We’ll wrap it up by saying that this appears to be a very balanced experience across most divisions. The AFC South is possibly a little weak (PrimeEffect), but the rest of the divisions appear to present a fair and fun experience for all. If you made it through reading this entire thing -- awesome. Thanks for taking the time. Good luck to everyone this upcoming cycle.