Mario finally started the right quarterback, got 31.3 out of Brock Purdy, and lost by 2.8 with 44.3 points on his bench. Benji won with the ninth-best score in the league, and the commissioner won by exactly the 11 he lost by last week, with a 26.2-point tight end on the bench. Oriol, Benji and Joe are all 3-0.
The ninth-best score of the week would have lost to eight other lineups. Benji drew the one it could beat. Josh Allen was projected 23.6 and scored 17.5, and the best-managed lineup in the league last week captured 89.6% of its ceiling this week. He is 3-0 and slipped a seed to second anyway, on points.
The fifth-best score in the league, enough to beat seven of the eleven lineups he was not playing, and he drew the fourth-best. The preview's complaint was the quarterback, and he fixed it: Purdy 31.3. Stairway to Seven is seventh for the third week in a row, which has stopped being a coincidence and started being a mission statement.
Two rushing touchdowns and a receiving one, 16.1 over his projection, both the best performance and the biggest overperformance of the week. The best lineup on this roster was 136.1, which beats Uriel's 129.9; the one Yael set lost by 11, with Jared Goff's 19.4 on the bench again, behind Bryce Young's 13.6. Four finals, zero rings, and a man who knows better than anyone that one great player is not always enough.
Last week the fourth-best score in the league and a loss. This week the fourth-best score and a win, by 2.8, the tightest margin on the board. The Chargers D/ST scored 14 on a 5.7 projection, and Christian Watson 22.6 on 14. He also benched Joe Burrow's 22.6 to start Patrick Mahomes for 15.9, and got away with it by less than a field goal.
The week 3 preview had Oriol as a 16.9-point underdog, mostly because there was no defense on his roster at all. He found one, and it outscored every other defense in the league. Brock Bowers added 27.6 on a 14.2 projection. The 2018 champion is 3-0, first seed, and has scored 406.1, the most in the league.
Last week Denzel Boston scored 20.5 on Toño's bench. This week he was promoted into the lineup and scored 6.1, while Tee Higgins scored 21 on the bench. Harold Fannin Jr. added 24.1 there too, and Bhayshul Tuten 17. The loss was by 53.4, so no single swap saves it, but 35.7 points left behind is the most in the league bar one.
42.5 last week, 35.4 this week, and 14.6 over his projection this time. The Broncos D/ST added 14 on 6.4. Joe left Tyler Shough's 23.8 and Keenan Allen's 18.3 on the bench and won by 40.8 anyway, which is what two stars and a good week buys you. 3-0, third seed.
Lost by 11 in week 2, won by 11 in week 3. The first win of the season came with Drake Maye scoring 4 at quarterback and George Kittle's 26.2 on the bench behind Travis Kelce's 13.9, so the commissioner has a bench regret for the third Sunday running. He is ninth. The tool that computes this still refuses to take his side.
Started at wide receiver, projected for zero, and scored zero, which is the one projection this week that was exactly right. Jordi also started Jalen Hurts for 12.6 over Dak Prescott's 16.9, the wrong side of his two-quarterback plan for the second week running. Garrett Wilson 26.7 and Harrison Mevis, a kicker, 16.
De'Von Achane was projected 19.4 and scored 1.7, the biggest bust of the week, and Tony Pollard's 13.6 sat on the bench. The best lineup available was 90.3 against Benji's 99.5, so nobody should blame the lineup card. Chris Boswell kicked 13, which is 8 more than last week and the kind of progress a rookie season is built from.
The preview's complaint about Mario was that Jayden Daniels was ruled out and still in the lineup, with Brock Purdy on the bench. He fixed that. Purdy scored 31.3, the best of any starting quarterback. And then the rest of the bench did it again.
Either of the two biggest swaps wins the game on its own, by a lot. Seventh seed for the third straight week, and a lineup on the roster that would have topped the whole league.
Top 7 make the playoffs. Ties broken by total points scored.
| Seed | Team | Record | PF | PA | Streak | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ▲1 | Firebreathing Platypuses Oriol |
3-0 | 406.1 | 337.4 | W3 |
| 2 | ▼1 | Suzaku Benji |
3-0 | 395.5 | 298.8 | W3 |
| 3 | – | Photofreak Joe |
3-0 | 366.9 | 275.7 | W3 |
| 4 | ▲1 | Obsidians Misa |
2-1 | 379.0 | 380.7 | W1 |
| 5 | ▲3 | Dan Robot Dan Robot (bot) |
2-1 | 372.4 | 319.3 | W2 |
| 6 | ▼2 | Potatoe Yael |
1-2 | 396.8 | 425.4 | L2 |
| 7 | – | Stairway to Seven Mario |
1-2 | 354.4 | 378.1 | L1 |
| 8 | ▼2 | Seitseman Toño |
1-2 | 343.0 | 391.3 | L2 |
| 9 | ▲1 | Balrogs Uriel |
1-2 | 342.4 | 351.2 | W1 |
| 10 | ▼1 | Windwaker Jordi |
1-2 | 317.0 | 356.9 | L1 |
| 11 | – | Mean Machine Sam |
0-3 | 289.6 | 368.2 | L3 |
| 12 | – | Terrible Towel, Mediocre Picks Tayler |
0-3 | 223.8 | 303.9 | L3 |
What you scored against the best lineup available from the players you already owned. 100 percent means nothing was left on the bench.
| Team | Scored | Best possible | Left behind | Rating | Biggest miss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firebreathing Platypuses Oriol |
133.3 | 141.3 | 8.0 | 94% | Brian Robinson Jr. (11.0) over Blake Corum (3.5) |
| Balrogs Uriel |
129.9 | 142.2 | 12.3 | 91% | George Kittle (26.2) over Travis Kelce (13.9) |
| Suzaku Benji |
99.5 | 111.0 | 11.5 | 90% | Rachaad White (11.1) over David Montgomery (6.8) |
| Windwaker Jordi |
107.1 | 120.5 | 13.4 | 89% | Dak Prescott (16.9) over Jalen Hurts (12.6) |
| Photofreak Joe |
120.2 | 135.9 | 15.7 | 88% | Keenan Allen (18.3) over Chris Godwin Jr. (5.5) |
| Obsidians Misa |
123.1 | 139.2 | 16.1 | 88% | Joe Burrow (22.6) over Patrick Mahomes (15.9) |
| Potatoe Yael |
118.9 | 136.1 | 17.2 | 87% | Darren Waller (10.1) over Oronde Gadsden (0.0) |
| Terrible Towel, Mediocre Picks Tayler |
75.8 | 90.3 | 14.5 | 84% | Tony Pollard (13.6) over De'Von Achane (1.7) |
| Mean Machine Sam |
79.4 | 101.9 | 22.5 | 78% | Jordan Addison (20.0) over Jalen Coker (3.8) |
| Stairway to Seven Mario |
120.3 | 164.6 | 44.3 | 73% | Michael Wilson (25.9) over Justin Jefferson (5.2) |
| Seitseman Toño |
95.9 | 131.6 | 35.7 | 73% | Tee Higgins (21.0) over Denzel Boston (6.1) |