And just like that, the round robin is complete. We've all played each other once, which means its time for the equalizer weekend, the GUT CHECK. In the week leading up to the 3rd installment of Gut Check, we didn't see a ton of movement in the standings. What we will see, however, is a slew of double-headers. Collin/Austin and Mike/Jake will play back-to-back in Weeks 10 and 11, putting a lot of pressure on teams in the top 4 to keep winning and giving the teams in the bottom part of the standings a chance to gain some serious ground. Ryan/Tmo will also play in back-to-back weeks, but they're #7 and #8 so that's not as relevant to the standings.

Additionally, since none of the partner couplings are playing each other, this week will count for the Power Couples standings. That being said, there are 6 weeks remaining, 12 games per coupling, to compete for the Power Couples title and the juicy $150 that comes with it. Lots of exciting stuff happening here, can't wait to see how it all shakes out!

Trades

Another trade has been accepted as of this morning between #1 Collin and #9 Garrett. No draft picks were involved, but Garrett sent Baker Mayfield over and in exchange recieved Jared Goff and Cam Skattebo. When asked about this transaction, the involved parties had these statements: Great stuff fellas. Thank you for the statements and feel good knowing you two have contributed more to the newsletters TODAY than the other 7 guys have in their entire lives. And another great reminder to us all that the trade deadline is November 12, next Wednesday. If you want to try and boost your draft stock next year, or strengthen your team for a late-season push, the time is now.

Slimmest of Wins

I mean, can this season get any worse for TK? After cursing him to mediocrity in Week 1, he finally got his feet back under him last week only to turn around and face perhaps the most heartbreaking defeat of the decade. The dust cleared from MNF and saw Jake with a 0.08 point lead over TK, the equivalent of 2 passing yards or less than 1 rushing/receiving yard. 0.08 points. Theoretically, the smallest MOV possible is 0.02, but I feel like this one is going to stand for a hot minute as the narrowest win in league history. In fact, why don't we take a look at some of those?

1. 0.08 Points: Jake 141.5 - 141.42 TK (2025 Week 9)
2. 0.26 Points: Nathan 125.82 - 125.56 Jake (2022 Week 3)
3. 0.34 Points: Collin 107.38 - 107.04 Garrett (2024 Week 4)
4. 0.40 Points: TK 157.06 - 156.66 Tyler (2023 Week 7)
5. 0.54 Points: Jake 130.04 - 129.5 Nathan (2022 Week 12)

Man, the Jake-Nathan series in 2022 was lit. Also me being involved in 3 of the 5 closest games of all time is further evidence that I will die of stress by 65 years old.

Recaps

John Luke 98.1 - 146.66 Austin

In the last of the Lovers' Quarrels, Austin predictably went belt-to-ass on John Luke in a bit of a domestic abuse situation (is that joke in poor taste? Maybe?). My person favorite part of Austin's roster right now isn't actually his starting lineup, like yeah he broke the system to ruin the fun for everyone, pretty par for the course for Austin. What I like more is his bench. This man has 2 QBs on his bench that each put up 30 this week, as if he'd ever sit both Lamar Jackson and Matthew Stafford for Jaxon Dart. Also, he's been raking with Rico Dowdle but still keeps Chuba Hubbard around for fun, who hasn't broken 10 points since week 2. Just sort of an interesting tactic, I mean he's 6-3 H2H with the most points so who am I to argue, but I'll of course comment on it. JL had a pretty rough week, his two-game win streak averaging over 130 coming to a grinding halt.

Tyler 129.1 - 148.36 Collin

Yeahhhhh I mean what are you gonna do. 148.36 is always going to be a tough score to earn a win against. Collin's team is firing on all cylinders, his only H2H loss on the season coming at the hands of Austin in week 1. 8 straight wins since, a streak that ties his personal best from last season and is 3 short of Mike's all-time record of 11 set back in 2014. It'll take a miracle for Collin to set the record though. He'll need RB1 CMC and RB3 De'Von Achane to carry him past Austin twice in a row, then beat TK to tie it, then face Jake in Week 13 to claim it. Becasue of that last piece, I of course can't root for him, but he's got the team to do it. Tmo heads the opposite direction, as he won't face a team currently in the top 4 until Week 14 when he finishes the season with Mike and Austin, so this is your window to climb buddy.

Nathan 118.4 - 106.66 Mike

The Merritt Bowl wasn't particularly high-scoring this year, but it did wind up being competitive and Nathan earned a huge W over #3 Mike to keep him reigned back within reach of the normies. The win gives Nathan the all-time edge over Mike in the series 6-5, despite being outscored by almost 60 points (which, in 11 games really isn't that much). When you look at the box score... it doesn't inspire much. Mahomes was flat, Kamara went negative (see Nathan, I'm telling you to avoid those Saints guys), really its all thanks to Drake London, who selfishly caught all 3 of the Falcon's TDs and didn't share the ball with literally anyone a la Devon Achane. Mike's lone bright spot was Jaxon Smith-Njigba's 22 points, but not a ton to celebrate otherwise. Mike needs to get back in shape as he enters a double-header vs Jake over the next two weeks to determine the front-runner for the #3 seed in the playoffs, while Nathan will get paired up with John Luke, who averages the 3rd-fewest PPG in the league, to keep up with the playoff pack.

Garrett 108.62 - 105.92 Ryan

Look Ryan, you want to lose your fantasy matchup to a guy that only scores 108, then fine. Be my guest. But what you're failing to recognize is that this negatively impacts others, specifically ME. HOW does the Garrett-Collin coupling get a win here? HOW? Garrett had exactly 1 player perform well, Dalton Kincaid (22.1), but he ekes out a win. Ryan, if you're going to pick and choose when to beat people, please at least hold off a couple of weeks so my coupling can earn some wins, thanks. You know, you see Garrett and Ryan, with 6 and 7 points after week 9 respectively, and think "well their seasons are basically over", but they're really not. Ryan is only 3 points back from a playoff spot, Garrett 4, and that #4 spot is going to be up for grabs as Mike and Jake duke it out for a couple of weeks, I really don't think its too late for anyone just quite yet, though the walls are closing in.

Jake 141.5 - 141.42 TK

I'm not going to belabor this point. Brock Bowers went total beast-mode and tore past 40 points this week, complimented by Josh Allen's standard 30. Just a stroke of absoulte misfortune for TK as Jake had 4 players crack 20, including the crucial 22.6 points by Marvin Harrison Jr on MNF to win the game. TK, happy to take Brock off your hands buddy, he will be properly loved here.

Power Couples

Dammit people someone has to beat Collin. Garrett will drop 1-2, whatever, but we cannot let this get so out of hand so early. Somebody DO something (I'm talking to YOU TMO).