Divisions Are Getting Out of Hand: Week 9 Fantasy Predictions

Last week set up the league in a pretty interesting predicament. There are now 4 teams tied for the top of the East division, all at 6–2. How did this happen? Aidan and Dan both lost their games, while Michael and Ethan both won their games, setting up the weirdest freak division standings I have ever seen. I won my game last week by .82 points thanks to Nick Chubb. Despite that, I’m still last in the stacked East division. What makes this even crazier is that if I was in the West I would be firmly in 2nd place, just 2 games behind Alejandro. How the divisions got this lopsided, I have no clue. There is definitely going to be some realignment in the offseason because if the season ended today a team with a 6–2 record would not even make the playoffs. All 4 of the teams in the East division are better than the West #1 with Alejandro at 5–3. With all that being said and a realignment being 100% guaranteed for next season by me (the commish baby), last week helped me a lot in my run to the playoffs. It would have been nice if Michael and Ethan lost, but I’ll take Dan and Aidan getting 1 game closer to me. This event just means I have 4 possible teams to overtake. I will need to land in the top 3 of the division, so I only need 2 of the 6–2 teams to drop 3 more games before the end of the season. This is very possible and I have Michael this week. Hopefully I can beat Michael, and if that happens he will have to be 1 of the teams that I overtake. Whatever teams lose this week will be the teams I target to get by. If I do make a run, this week is going to be very important to how all that plays out. Week 9 might just be the most important part of the regular season. Without further ado, let’s get into these predictions.

Season Prediction Record: (16–9)

Last Week: (4–1)

Sam (1–7)(West 5) VS Meeks (2–6)(West 3)

Sadly Sam couldn’t take down Michael last week and is now 1 loss away from being statistically eliminated from the playoffs. Now we all know Sam isn’t going to make the playoffs, but it’s interesting to see teams are finally starting to get officially eliminated from the playoff race. Meeks had a great game last week upsetting the then 6–1 Aidan. Meeks looks like he could possibly make a run back to .500 here or at least play upset to a few teams down the road. This week, Meeks has Patrick Mahomes against the Titans in an easy matchup and Kenneth Walker in an easy matchup against the Cardinals. I expect both players to be the ones that carry the team this week and for Mahomes to beat Jalen Hurts’ 20 points for Sam. Meeks already got a nice 15.9 from AJ Brown, which is good because I believe Stefon Diggs is going to have a really rough time with Sauce Gardner. I don’t expect Diggs to be much of a factor in this one. Jamaal Williams has been on a hot streak I don’t expect to slow down and Hayden Hurst should play well against Carolina. Sam should get very good production out of Cooper Kupp and Jaylen Waddle, but I don’t love James Conner here. D’Andre Swift should have a good day and Tyler Higbee should have a pretty good workload as usual. I don’t love the start of MVS at flex, but he could have a big game, although I doubt it. With both teams looking fairly even this week, it was tough to pick a winner, but Meeks is riding a hot streak and I feel he has more sure things in his lineup than Sam. Meeks wins this one by the tightest of margins.

Kyle (3–5)(West 2) VS Alex (2–6)(West 4)

I’m going to keep this one very short because it’s pretty evident about whose going to win here (reference giant picture). Kyle has an actual team, while Alex has pretty much given up on his team and has started to not check his lineup. I’m assuming the lineup shown is the one Alex will be using. Kyle has too much firepower to fall to the worst managed team in the league. Kyle wins by so many points, while Alex puts up 55 points tops.

Michael (6–2)(East 2) VS Me (3–5)(East 5)

I continued my quest to the playoffs with a .82 win over Kyle last week. This week should bring my biggest challenge yet, but Michael has missed editing his lineups for the past few weeks. This could really effect him if he doesn’t make any edits this week. Michael has Mike Williams injured, Diontae Johnson on bye, Christian McCaffrey on bye, and Graham Gano on bye. This leaves Lamar Jackson and Alvin Kamara in favorable matchups, with Zach Ertz and Leonard Fournette also expected to score a bit. Thankfully, I have Geno Smith and DK Metcalf against Arizona which should be a big day for both. Evan Engram has been reliable and should do his part coming in for Pat Friermuth. My running backs are very shaky with most of my starters on bye. I’m playing D’Onta Foreman who I still like this week and I picked up Khalil Herbert, who has seen increased production the past few weeks (16 carries for 99 yards last week). Even with a lineup not up to full strength I should be able to beat Michael’s unchecked lineup. Me by a lot.

Alejandro (5–3)(West 1) VS Aidan (6–2)(East 4)

We have two very important games this week, this being slightly the lesser of the two. Aidan is looking to get back on top of the East division and Alejandro is looking to maintain his gap in the West division with Kyle most likely taking a win home this week. Las Vegas’ defense has been extremely suspect so I like that Alejandro is going with Trevor Lawrence here. Miles Sanders and the Eagles defense already put up very good performances and both receivers should have nice days. I love his play of Isaiah Likely with Mark Andrews out and Likely now having a proven track record. Chris Olave also intrigues me against Baltimore since he is again the #1 option for Andy Dalton. The only flaw here is the start of Deon Jackson. I don’t think Deon Jackson will have a horrible day, but I see the Patriots front containing him pretty good. Aidan’s team looks pretty decent this week Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins should have a big bounce back week against a bad Carolina secondary and Josh Jacobs should have a bounce back against Jacksonville. I still don’t love Jeff Wilson now that he’s with a new team and I don’t trust Christian Kirk. Gerald Everett should have a decent day in relief of George Kittle and Davante Adams should have a good day if Derek Carr can figure out how to play quarterback. With question marks all over Aidan’s team this week and the absence of George Kittle, I have to go with Alejandro here. Alejandro by 5.

Primetime: Dan (6–2)(East 1) VS Ethan (6–2)(East 3)

In our primetime matchup of the week we have a potential battle for the #1 position in the East conference. Dan already dropped a terrific 24 points with Dallas Goedert and with Sauce Gardner locking up Stefon Diggs, I see Gabe Davis having an amazing day. In connection with Gabe Davis, Josh Allen will also have a great day. Tyreek Hill should be his normal self against Chicago, but the rest of his lineup is somewhat cause for concern. Raheem Mostert is not trustworthy, especially with the addition of Jeff Wilson and Damien Harris’ production has steadily declined with the increased workload of Rhamondre Stevenson. I see both having bad days. Adam Thielen also now has TJ Hockenson competing with him for targets and I don’t think that spells anything good for his fantasy production. Ethan has Justin Herbert and Austin Ekeler against an atrocious Atlanta defense which should pan out well for him. Joe Mixon and Rhamondre Stevenson against bad defenses should also be 15+ point performances from each. Kyle Pitts is finally getting a workload so I trust him against the Chargers, but Terry McLaurin and Michael Pittman seem very suspect. I see Ethan taking this one even with his wide receiver weakness. Dan’s weakness at running back outweighs Ethan’s weakness at receiver and I think Ethan takes this by 10.