Week 7 & 8 Recap

ANNNNND WE’RE OFF FOR A DOUBLE RECAP

Standings

The last two weeks has a strong resemblance Formula 1. At the beginning, everyone is excited, thinking their team looks great. The first two weeks are a little rocky as everyone settles in, manages the fluke injuries, and then the games begin.

In our case, there’s an even stronger resemblence where there’s a VERY clear tiering of teams, you can see it in the Power Rankings.

Let’s start at the top.

Samantha is very clearly Max Verstappen. Hit a roadbump week 1, jumped to the top and is now just steamrolling fools. Two weeks ago she looked vulnerable. Instead, we got a record setting performance in Week 7, completely demolishing my own 150+ score. In Week 8, she gave Jon hope for a W and then snatched it away.

That raw Week 7 performance is good enough for 3rd all time (behind two 190+ performances in 2012 and 2011, respectively). Adjusted for inflation, that would have been 156.64 points, 14th all-time. And that Week 8 game was NASTY work.

Speaking of records - Samantha is primed for a first-ever title defense and the second ever 3-time champ. I hope CMC breaks a knee and has to watch his wife’s Netflix cooking competition show for the rest of the season.

Second on the leaderboard is Ryan, playing the role of Charles LeClerc.

Nothing about your weekly performances screams top-tier, but somehow you keep winning and find yourself on top of the leaderboard. This week you boat-raced Julian, congratulations - join the club (except me of course damn it). And now your reinforcements are here, I fully expect your team to implode because you got too excited about Lamar returning. Just like Ferrari EVERY YEAR.

Megan and Erik are playing the role of McLaren. I’ll let you two fight over which one is Lando and which one is Oscar.

This comparison works because both of them could make a run but neither of them has the horses to really challenge the champ without getting lucky. In Week 7, Megan joined me as the only team to get beat by BOTH FOHRMANs. In Week 8, Megan looked like she was going to stomp all over Chris, and it turned into a light beatdown. Pick a lane already.

Meanwhile Erik vs JB was the MATCHUP OF THE WEEK, with Erik taking the W with a 1 catch + 3 yard margin of victory. A W is a W, but you’ll have to do better than that to be top dawg in the Bright household.

Occupying the Mercedes + Ferrari middle ground is Blythe, Morgan, and Tuesday. Blythe is probably George Russell - with a CLEAR point advantage over Morgan and Tuesday. She just keeps showing up in the W column.

Morgan is whoever the 2nd Mercedes Driver is - mainly because I have no idea how she keeps in the mix, but she does. Sometimes the performance is erratic (76 points in Week 7, 135 in Week 8), but somehow she’s still in the hunt.

Meanwhile, Tuesday is clearly Lewis Hamilton. There are times where is looks like she is phoning it in and then from time to time it looks like she could still win it all. She’s not bothered by any of it, and she might just eff around and win the whole thing. She’s averaging a full 2 TDs per week less than Blythe with the same record. SMOOTH.

And that brings us to Jon - the dividing line between the haves and have nots. He’s got the last double-digit playoff percentage (10%) before everyone else who is just happy to be here. That makes you Alex Albon, the last respectable driver on the grid. You won’t win anything but you might have a good showing from time to time if everyone else crashes out.

And then there is the bottom 4 teams. So so many options here.

JB is Niko Hulkenburg - because your team is either I can’t make it around the track OR youWTF are you doing here on the podium. Like in Week 7 where you mustered up enough points to beat Morgan and had an amazing showing against Erik in Week 8. You team is not quite a jalopy but it’s got a bit of run in it. I would use a GIF so everyone could see Niko, but there really aren’t any so you’ll have to look it up yourself.

Next up is Shannon, who at one point looked like she was going to do some damage (waaaay back in Week 3) and now you are out. That makes you Fernando Alonso.

He had a few good races in 2024 and has spent the rest of his time collecting paychecks for hair products. He LOOKS competitive but no, not competitive in the slightest.

Julian - you are Pierre Gasly. Every year, hope springs eternal. And this year, there is no hope. You might look like Benedict Cumberbatch, but you are really just a short dude who can’t seem to drive straight.

And then there is your Commissioner. At the bottom of the standings. There was a tiny moment where it looked like I was going to make a run, but then Megan and Samantha said get out of here and leave fantasy football to the grownups. That makes me Carlos Sainz.

If you don’t know Carlos’ story - he used to drive for McLaren and Ferrari and now drives for a team you have never heard of.

On paper, looks great. All the potential in the world. But results - NOPE. Winners Win and Losers end up driving for teams that test technology for winners. If *failure to live up to any sort of expectations, no matter how low` doesn’t sum up my team, I don’t know what does.

In reviewing the benches the last two weeks - I’d like to recognize Jon. In the last two weeks he’s lost some squeakers to Erik and Samantha (there is clearly a Mercer Island hierarchy now). In both cases the W was on the bench. I award you 3 Dan Wilsons - somethings gotta change 'cause the current management strategy is not getting it done.

As for Club 99, other than the regulars, Erik + Jon + Morgan came to visit during Week 7. Morgan got absolutely hosed by ESPN projections. Erik and Jon’s original projections were within 3 and they finished half a point apart - I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. Stil crappy scores, but fun to watch.

Manager Stats

Schedule Notes

We made it through BYE-Mageddon! There’s only one more International game (Week 11), and BYEs are pretty normal from here on out.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do your waivers