Carl vs Thomas

Thomas Leagh named his franchise in honor of Rob, who is alive. On Sunday the memorial did something Rob’s teams failed to do in five of their last seven openers and won, by 30.10, in Thomas’s first game in the league.

His keeper argument is settling itself. In August Thomas made the case that Chris Olave was fourth-round value at a tenth-round price, and Olave scored 28.2. The Moth Observer’s preview also passed along a rumor that Thomas took draft advice from other managers. If so, he asked the right ones. Jonathan Taylor scored twice for 25.1. Breece Hall added 19.8, Travis Etienne Jr. 14.8, and CeeDee Lamb 15.4 in Dallas’s loss to the Giants.

Trey Smack, the Packers rookie Thomas took 119th, made a 59-yard field goal on his first NFL attempt, the second-longest in Packers history. He then missed an extra point, because the Packers were involved. Green Bay led Minnesota by 12 and lost 39–22, two weeks before this league travels to Lambeau to watch them in person. The Rams defense, another Thomas selection, flew to Melbourne and scored 1 point.

Thomas started Justin Herbert (13.26) over Jayden Daniels (17.66) and benched George Kittle, whose 3.2 nobody will miss. None of it cost him. He scored 139.46 of a possible 143.86, the most efficient lineup in the league. New members are not supposed to lead that category.

Carl started the best player in the league and lost by 30. Caleb Williams scored 37.26 as Chicago beat Carolina 59–37 in the highest-scoring opener in NFL history. In that same game, Colston Loveland played more snaps than any other Bears pass-catcher and caught neither of his two targets, which is hard to do when 96 points are being scored around you. Ja’Marr Chase, Carl’s first-round pick, had two catches for 12 yards, his lowest receiving total since November 2023. Garrett Wilson did score 13.9 in a Jets win, and Carl, author of the league’s first recorded profanity directed at the Jets, will have to live with that.

Carl’s second-best player was a kicker he found on waivers. Evan McPherson scored 19, more than Chase and Saquon Barkley combined. The Seahawks defense intercepted Drake Maye three times in the fourth quarter, and Seattle’s winning field goal came off the foot of Jason Myers, whom Carl drafted and no longer employs. His best possible lineup scored 126.66 and still loses. The Tin Man opens the season in Unlucky and Bad, his customary address on the matrix, and plays Mitch next.