With only two games remaining in the regular season, here’s a look at where we are, and in some cases, how we got here.
A TOUGH SEASON, MADE TOUGHER.
As if there weren’t enough of the usual twists involved in winning game, or reaching the playoffs, this year many of us lost some of the NFL’s best to prolonged healing periods, as well as to season-ending injuries.
BOTH BREWCO LEAGUES: An Overview
• How does your team fare against the other 23 teams that make up both leagues? Click [ here ] to find out.
• For more on how things look in the other Brewco League… click [ here ].
THE 2017 LEAGUE AWARDS PARTY.
For the second year in a row, we thank Doug and the staff at Brewco for making the arrangements to seat all of us again for another upcoming awards party! The time and date of the 2017/18 Awards Party will be:
Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 5pm –in Brewco’s Dining Area
• Payouts Include: 1st Place: $700 / 2nd Place: $350 / 3rd Place: $175
• Plus Jackson Awards • NFL & Beer Trivia Game (Winning Team: $180)
• An official notice will be sent out at the end of the regular season.
PROPOSALS, RULES & CHANGES.
Per Prop 7 / 2016: All newly adopted rules become subject to a one year probationary period. At the close of the season, we will vote to either carry that rule forward, or to remove all together. That said, our 2017 ballot will include your opportunity to vote on the following policy that was adopted this season:
PROP 4: LINE UP & ROSTER SLOT REDUCTION
Rosters will be limited to 13 slots. Line-ups will have one less WR slot, limiting the line-up slot count to nine. This rule will ultimately increase the number of wide receivers that will be available for selection on the Wire each week.
– – NOTE: If this rule isn’t upheld, we will default to the 14-slot rosters that we ran with in 2016.
Along with this vote, you’ll also have the opportunity to provide us with some additional proposals for this year’s ballot. Because that ballot will hit your inbox on December 8, please submit your proposal(s) for league review on, or before 12/5, using the proposal submission form below.
• NOTE: Proposals cannot become a rule unless they receive a minimum of 75% approval.
2018 PROPOSALS
THE NORTHERN DIVISION
THE ROOK
Average Points Forced Each Week: 119.58
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 125.72
Points Forced This Season: 1,315.48
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,383.00 – The League’s 2nd Most Impacted Team by PA
Jackson Awards: –
This club currently leads the North as part of a three-way tie, at (3-5). En route to their current record, the Rook has lost two major players: David Johnson AND Aaron Rodgers!! Despite that, the Rook recently bounced back and are riding a two-game winning streak. They are also ranked third in the category of, ‘Average Points Forced Each Week’. And that ain’t bad!
THE BREWSERS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 110.74
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 130.85
Points Forced This Season: 1,218.20
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,439.42 – The League’s Most Impacted Team by PA
Jackson Awards: –
They started off with a strong performance by their only QB, Matt Stafford, but things have quieted down from that 4 TDP attack that they served up in Week 1. A few weeks after the win that resulted from Stafford’s efforts (et al), they lost Odell Beckham, Jr., their number one pick in the 2017 draft. This club did receive a smile over the initial performance of Doug Martin in Week 5, but frowned twice over: (1) the temporary loss of Fournette AND (2) the fact that they failed to secure a one week handcuff for him. They are at least steeped in RB2 / RB 3s, a bit thin at WR, but are solid at TE, thanks to Rudolph and Olsen. They also have one of the best D/STs in the game. All of this generates a strong belief that they’re on track to make the playoffs for the first time since Season II.
ICE COLD BEAR
Average Points Forced Each Week: 94.42
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 117.68
Points Forced This Season: 1,038.62 – The League’s Lowest Totals on PF
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,294.50
Jackson Awards: One
ICB has faced a difficult season this year and is currently reeling through a six game skid. They’ve lost Andrew Luck, Carson Palmer and Zach Miller to IR. On top of that, their GM is also dealing with the oft injured statuses of Emmanuel Sanders and ICB favorite, Matt Forte. They do boast some fine talent which includes: Rivers, CJ Anderson, Gore, Evans, D. Bryant and the recently acquired Jamison Crowder. Along with this, they’ve defeated the San Carlos Senior Citizens, the Five-Oh-Twos this season, They also handed the Brewsers, a divisional rival, a 42.2 beat down in WK 2, earning them a Jackson Award in the process. Ice Cold Bear will now look to officially end the string of losses this week. And in doing so, this unprecedented winner of three league titles will do what they do best, to close out the season with a string of wins!
THE SOUTHERN DIVISION
AKULA
Average Points Forced Each Week: 111.92
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 104.49
Points Forced This Season: 1,231.32
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,149.40
Jackson Awards: –
Akula is in one of the toughest divisions in the league, but is currently enjoying the edge over Sadiedogs, who they beat earlier this season. This is a team that has done well for themselves since the draft, when they laid claim to some of the best players that the 2017 draft had to offer. Those players include: Kareem Hunt, ranked (RB: 3rd) in cumulative point totals and Julio Jones (WR: 16). Jones, an Akula favorite, is having an uncharacteristically quiet season thus far. But that will no doubt change. And when it does, Akula will benefit from the fact that they also have Matt Ryan (QB: 15) on the squad. They have Lamar Miller (RB: 14th) and Tyler Kroft (TE: 16th) on staff and they acquired J. Goff (QB: 12th), along with Seattle wide outs P. Richardson and J. Kearse off the Wire this year. They’ve also done their share of house cleaning this season, having discarded players like Decker, Bennett, Kelley and Marshall (IR). As a result of all that, they’re forcing an average of 111 pts to their opponents per game, yet only incurring an average of 104 pts against them per game. And that makes for one healthy win/loss outcome.
THE SADIEDOGS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 139.00
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 1123.26
Points Forced This Season: 1,073.84 – Second Most PF
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,529.10
Jackson Awards: Five
Let’s start off with the obvious. Outside of the fact that this team boasts the highest number of Points Forced in the league with 1,529.10 AND the highest per game average of points scored with 139.00, this team rosters two of the best QBs in the NFL: Tom Brady and Carson Wentz. And that latter appears to have more weapons than the former! And speaking of weapons, the Sadiedogs are a team that is replete with them! They are armed with Le’Veon Bell, Christian McCaffrey, Kelvin Benjamin and Adam Thielen. And if Drew Stanton can successfully lean on Larry Fitzgerald as often as he should, this team will actually get better. In closing it should be noted that when this team ran with a singular name, Sadiedog, they performed well. That included earning a record of 10-3 last season and eight Jackson Awards over the course of the past six years. But now the Sadiedogs are in the house and that appears to spell: “double trouble” for all concerned.
SDBUDMANN
Average Points Forced Each Week: 115.46
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 107.97
Points Forced This Season: 1,270.10
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,187.70
Jackson Awards: One
Despite losing such talent as Dalvin Cook and Tyler Eifert to season ending injury, SDBudMann is hanging within range of the first place tie that currently exists in this division. Their strength is two-fold: a great set of QBs in A. Smith and D. Prescott. Then they’ve also got a healthy receiving corps, given such names as Baldwin, Cooks, Agholor, Smith-Schuster, K. Allen, R. Anderson… and Evan Engram, from the NYG. Thus far this club has already earned the same number of wins that they had in 2016 when they played in the Blood, Sweat & Beers League. Given the talent that they have and the time that’s remaining in the regular season, they still have a solid shot at the divisional crown. That said, since they lost to Sadiedogs, but beat Akula, they either need to win the last two games and hope to see Sadiedogs and Akula lose the last two so that SDBMN can take first place outright… or they need to win the last two and tie Akula for first place in the South.
THE EASTERN DIVISION
THE POTTY MOUTH PUMAS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 136.58 – The League’s 2nd Highest Weekly Average
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 114.70
Points Forced This Season: 1,502.48 – The League’s 2nd Highest Total
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,261.70
Jackson Awards: Two
This division’s current title holder is making a strong bid to place a second consecutive jewel in their championship crown. The PMP has just matched the Season I consecutive winning streak record that was set by the Brewsers and came close to the nine game record that was set by Lou’s Bad News Bears, in 2010. They are also second overall in most Points Forced this season with 1,502.48, and generate an average of 136.58 points per game!! How did they become this good? Well, it all started back in the draft. During the course of it, they reached for the all but doomed-to-suspended likes of Ezekiel Elliott with the 2nd pick (20th overall) in the 2017 draft. After that, the PMP went on to pick up other playmakers like R. Wilson, Shady Mc-C, Jarvis Landry and Mark Ingram. These players have elevated this team to the top of the charts, earning them two Jackson Awards. They are also one of the only three Brewco League teams with no more than three losses on their record. The other teams? The Blood, Sweat & Beer League’s Juke Box Heroes (8-3) run by Jarrod and Taylor’s Down By The Rivers, who lead the league with a record of (9-2).
THE SAN CARLOS SENIOR CITIZENS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 117.16
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 105.73
Points Forced This Season: 1,288.82
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1.163.10
Jackson Awards: One
The Citizens opted to go after receiver strength in the early rounds of this year’s draft on the heels of their acquisition of Melvin Gordon (RB: 4th). This squad’s receiving strength includes: Gronkowski (TE: 2nd), Diggs (WR: 20th), Funchess (WR: 26th), Demaryius Thomas (WR: 18th) and Tate (WR: 8th). Those positions are garnished by and Carlos Hyde (RB: 11th) and NE RBs Lewis and Burkhead. They’ve also done a lot of streaming this season, thru QBs, D/STs and kickers using a well executed process that delivered the 7-4 record that they have at this time. And with two games to go, the Eastern Divisional crown is well within reach!!
THE FIVE-OH-TWOS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 96.88
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 106.07
Points Forced This Season: 1,065.78
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,166.86
Jackson Awards: –
It’s an extremely unusual thing to see the 502’s record marred by so many bad weeks. In fact, this team has never fallen below a .571 average; (8-6). They’ve received periodically good play that has delivered wins to them vs some of the league’s best adversaries. And they have lost to the opponents by 10 points of less four times this season. That said, it appears that Mariota (QB: 23), J. Howard (RB: 12), D. Thomas (WR: 12), D. Walker (TE: 10) and New Orleans (D/ST: 7) have not been able to step up often enough. However with two games left to play this season, the Five-Oh-Twos will look to break their four-game skid this week vs SDBudMann. Thereafter, they’ll finish the regular season versus a familiar foe: the PMP; a team that beat them by 19.42 points in Week 2. And I smell “payback!”
THE WESTERN DIVISION
THE KRUSHERS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 117.52
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 116.70
Points Forced This Season: 1,292.72
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,283.72
Jackson Awards: One
After a strong draft that netted Brees, A.J. Green, T. Hill, Witten, the Seahawks D/ST and Gostkowski, the Krushers found the need to discard Snead and Prosise. And thus far, it’s been for good reason. They’re also pleased to see what Ajayi can do with a better O-line vs situations when he isn’t looking at 8-10 in the box. Aside from those talents, Special K also locked up a solid pick off of the Wire in Alvin Kamara; a back that was probably going to supplant AP – eventually. Having beaten DaBears earlier this season, the (4-4) Krushers currently find themselves with an edge over that club, as well as a split-share of the divisional title.
DABEARS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 122.94
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 112.75
Points Forced This Season: 1,352.42
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,348.24
Jackson Awards: –
Let’s start off with the good things that this club has quietly accomplished. This was one of the few teams to reach for Adrian Peterson early AND to hang onto him, despite his lack of carries in New Orleans. And while they lost Greg Olsen in week 3, they did manage to pluck Davante Adams off of the Wire after he was dropped by the Brewsers. Unlike the other receivers on the Packers, Adams is the only one that Brett Hundley appears to recognize. One other quiet moe was the acquisition of Big Ben after he started looking like himself again. But aside from those names, here are some of the other players that were locked up by DaBears, including the suddenly relevant-again emergence of Jimmy Graham, the Detroit Lions D/ST; a unit that’s racked up double digit point totals in 6 out of 11 games, along with T. Gurley, L. Blount, M. Crabtree… and A. Brown. And now that DaBears have a healthy Ben Roethlisberger under contract to pair with Antonio Brown, all I can say is, somethings are not fair.
THE SHEEP SHAGGERS
Average Points Forced Each Week: 106.26
Average Points Allowed Each Week: 122.56
Points Forced This Season: 1,168.96
League Average Points Forced This Season: 1,272.825
Points Allowed This Season: 1,348.24
Jackson Awards: –