Week 4 Power Rankings — The Worst League

Oct 4

Oct 4 Week 4 Power Rankings

CMC for MVP?

It’s officially that time of year again when Christian McCaffrey is getting MVP buzz. This Sunday, he scored a career-high four TDs against the Cardinals en route to 48.7 fantasy points. In fact, that’s the most points scored by CMC in a single game in his career. Not only that, but it was the seventh-most points scored by any Worst League player in league history. It was a performance so absolutely ridiculous that even LeBron James heaped on the praise. Bottom line: if you started McCaffrey in fantasy this week, you won.

Right? RiGhT?!?!

Me: Sweet. CMC scored 50! Did I win? Fantasy App: ^^^

Wrong.

Turns out McCaffrey wasn’t the only one breaking records this weekend. While McCaffrey’s 48.7 points were the most by a player this season and a personal best, Brandon now owns the record for most points scored by a single player in a losing effort. Somehow, McCaffrey nearly put up a 50 burger and Brandon still found a way to lose. That’s historic.

How far back does this record go? Try last week. Though I failed to touch on it in last week’s recap, Gray’s 0.26-point loss to Alex in Week 3 came despite 45.2 points from Raheem Mostert. That broke the record set by Jess in Week 7 of 2020 when she lost to Erik despite 44.6 points from Davante Adams. Now the record belongs solely to Brandon and McCaffrey. Sorry CMC! Really feel like I let you down.

At least, we’ll always have the Power Rankings.

Despite the loss, Brandon regains the top spot from Erik in the Power Rankings.

Uh oh. This seems eerily familiar. Brandon is in first place in the Power Rankings but ninth in the official standings. Remember, last year Brandon finished first in the final Power Rankings but missed the playoffs due to a 1-6 start he could not overcome. It’s not that bad yet. But it’s not great.

Enough about me. Let’s tick through the rest of the news and notes:

There are NO MORE undefeated teams! With losses for both Greco and Nick, it’s just the third time in the last five years that no one is perfect after Week 4.
Though Erik slipped a spot in the rankings, he still leads all team owners in points, averaging 131.1 ppg. (League average this year is 116.5 ppg.)
Most impressive Erik is doing this despite just 10.4 ppg from QBs—namely, Joe Burrow. I guess it helps when you’re averaging 18.8 ppg from D/ST. How bout them Cowboys?! In fact, the Cowboys D/ST has so far outscored Joe Burrow 75 to 31.42.
After a Week 1 dud, Alex is 3-0 over the last three weeks, scoring no fewer than 128 points in each game. Nick Chubb may have gone down. But this team has rallied around their fallen comrade. 💪
Alex is now third in the Power Rankings—which is tied for his highest ranking since Week 2 of 2021 after he spent most of last season circling the fantasy drain.
As if there were any doubt…here comes Samantha. Remember, Samantha’s career record through the first three weeks is 4-14. After Week 3? 42-24. Despite her 1-3 record, she’s now tied for fourth in the rankings.
Noted this in the group text, but Samantha’s last three matchups against Brandon were all victories decided by 1.4 points or less. 😡
Geoff is 3-1 for just the second time in his career. The last time he started 3-1? Two years ago when he made the playoffs as the two seed. 🔮
Gray wins the weekly prize with 171.0 points scored. That’s the most points scored by any team this season and the most since Chelsie scored 190.0 points against Gray in Week 8 of last year.
This is Gray’s first weekly prize since Week 5 of last year. With big days for Josh Jacobs (27.9 points), the return of Alvin Kamara (13 receptions?!) and the one-two punch of Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane, it may not be his last.
Gray is the only current team owner getting above-average scoring from QB, RB and WR. He currently ranks 2nd, 1st and 4th at those three positions. He also now leads the league in receptions with 30.5 per game. 🚀
At 1-3, this is the first time Beth Ann has had a losing record in Week 4.
Despite rostering Daniel Carlson (last year’s top kicker), Beth Ann is last in the league in kicker scoring, averaging just 4.8 ppg.
Chelsie plummets six spots into eighth in the rankings, following her worst showing of the year. Injuries to Saquon Barkley, Diontae Johnson, Zay Jones and now Javonte Williams have not helped. 🤕
Nick and Greco are 3-1, but are they paper tigers? They’re ninth and 10th in this week’s Power Rankings. So far Nick has two “lucky wins” in which he won despite finishing in the bottom half of the league in scoring. Greco has one. They also rank 10th and 11th in scoring.
Josh falls a spot in this week’s rankings but bounced back after back-to-back subpar outings, showing the first signs of life since his Week 1 weekly prize. It helped that Derrick Henry kinda looked like Derrick Henry again.
Finally, Jess is 0-4. It’s the first 0-4 start of her career. And—bad news alert—no 0-4 team has ever made the playoffs. The best an 0-4 team has done is go 5-8 (Nick, 2013) and the worst they’ve done is go 1-11 (Nick, 2020). 😱
But if there is reason for optimism, it would be the team owner who spent a third-round pick on Cooper Kupp and a sixth-round pick on Jonathan Taylor. Both are eligible to return in Week 5, and there’s a chance they could play this week. Here’s hoping. 🤞