Bob wins Trey sweepstakes

There is a surprising trio of teams trending up this week in the latest ESPN power rankings for the JSFL

Bob Garcia won the Free-Agent Sweepstakes to pick up RB Trey Benson on Wednesday.

Topping the list of is Chuck Nelson’s Gerbils, who moved four spots in the rankings to fourth overall in the league after last week’s stunning upset of the Recliners. The other big mover was Bob Garcia’s Band Aids, which moved up two spots to eighth and further improved their long-term success with the prized waiver grab of Arizona RB Trey Benson Wednesday morning. He was the prize waiver grab with the season-ending surgery was announced for Spread Beater RB James Conner (who got dumped by Matt Pringle for Ollie Gordon II of Miami).

Despite the loss of Conner, the Spread Beaters also moved up one spot in the rankings, to first overall and ahead of long-time friend Jeff Lambert and his Packers.

Funny you should mention those two long-time buddies as they will square off in this week’s “Game of the Week." Lambert and the Packers go into this match as slight favorites but anything could happen between now and the final two games of the schedule Monday night.

Schedule gets goofy

The Week 4 schedule gets goofy from the start. We have the usual Thursday night affair – this one featuring the Seattle Seahawks visiting the Arizona Cardinals. The European schedule starts Sunday morning (6:30 a.m. on the West Coast) with the Vikings and Steelers meeting in Dublin, Ireland. The slate concludes with two games on Monday night – the Jets at the Dolphins and the Bengals at the Broncos. Set those lineups accordingly.

Game of the Week

Spread Beaters (4-point dogs) vs. Packers: This matchup, likely, comes down to the Packers’ backfield. Jeff is heavily favored at quarterback (Lamar Jackson) and both running back positions (Christian McCaffrey and James Cook). For the second week in a row, Pringle goes into the weekend with question marks galore at QB and both RBs. As of this writing Thursday morning, Washington Commanders’ QB Jayden Daniels is still carrying a “questionable” tag and might be another game-day decision. Word out of the Commanders’ camp is that the top brass is asking Jayden to wear a knee brace for the first time in his career. If he goes with his backup, he has to decide today as Kyler Murray takes on Seattle in the Thursday night game. Oh, joy. And, Pringle was one of the owners who lost a front-line starter for the season last week (Arizona’s James Conner). Pringle is going with two rookie RBs (Omirion Hampton and Ashton Jeanty at flex). The only advantages the Beaters have at this point is at WR (Amon-Ra St. Brown and Nico Collins) and tight end (Tucker Kraft). This could be a tough test for the division-leading Beaters. Swami says take the Packers and 3.

Best of the Rest

Invaiders (1-point dog) vs. WTNE: On paper, this looks like a close contest. However, the stars always come out to shine, and Jordan’s roster is littered with stars who aren’t on injured reserve or just flat out suck (I am talking to you, Brian Thomas Jr.). The Invaiders’ offense took a big hit last week with the loss of keeper Ceedee Lamb for the next two to three weeks with a bum ankle suffered on a running play. But the star power of RB Saquon Barkley, WR Malik Nabers and TE Brock Bower and Garrett Wilson at flex should handily dispatch of the upstart Invaiders this weekend. Swami says take WNTE and 5.

Band Aids (6-point dogs) vs. Tirades: This features two teams each with only 1 win fighting to keep pace with the Packers and not get buried in the dregs of the Shit-Talkers’ division. Ron’s Tirades come into this one heavily favored across the board at RB (Jonathan Taylor and Breece Hall), WR (Ja’Marr Chase and Quentin Johnston) and defense (San Francisco hosting the dreadful Jacksonville Jaguars, yay, Niners!). Bob gets the positional edge at QB (Caleb Williams at Las Vegas) and flex (RB David Montgomery). We think the Tirades have too much fire power for the Band Aids to handle. Swami says take the Tirades and 5.

Chandler Rangers (4-point dogs) vs. Westchester Gerbils: This is one of those games only a mother would want to watch. The line opened with the Rangers as 17-point dogs and it only grew as the week passed only to drop down to respectability Thursday morning. Only Chuck could mess this one up, but, let’s face it, he could probably roll out his reserves and still get a win. The Gerbils are favored with RB Jaylen Warren (it must drive John nuts to watch a Steeler on another team), and WRs Davante Adams (questionable) and Rome Odunze (what is a Husky doing in this lineup?). The lone positional advantages John has is at QB with Josh Allen, flex RB Josh Jacobs (questionable), tight end Hunter Henry and the Steelers defense playing across the pond in Dublin. Make sure you are up bright and early to watch that one, John. It might be the only bright spot all weekend. Swami says take the Gerbils and 5.

Blowout of the Week

Who Dey (15-point dogs) vs. Hermosa Recliners: Wow, this end of the schedule gets ugly quickly. This is candidate for “Dog of the Week” but is only outdone by the struggling Rangers. Chris should cruise to his third win of the season in this one, but we thought he would have an easy win last week and look what that got us. The Recliners are heavily favored at RB with Bijan Robinson and Chuba Hubbard, WR with Puka Nacua, TE in Trey McBride Thursday night, and flex (RB J.K. Dobbins). Matty gets some hope from WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba tonight at Arizona and the Chargers’ defense at the New York Giants. Swami says bet big and take Chris to cover with 10.