Carl vs Kyle

Kyle beat Carl 141.30 to 121.94, the highest score in the league in the lowest-scoring week of the season. He is 5–1, first in points by 85, and 34–8 against the field; his 915.44 through six weeks is the most anyone has scored at this point in the current scoring era and 3.38 behind his own 918.82 from 2018. Carl is 3–3 and leads the series 9–8. Kyle had Joe Burrow, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta on bye, Carl had Ja’Marr Chase, Aaron Jones and Ollie Gordon on bye and Saquon Barkley inactive, and the Moth, who had written that Carl would be the first man to lose to the bye, was correct by nineteen.

Kyle’s quarterback week ran in three parts. On Tuesday morning, with Burrow out, he set Trevor Lawrence at quarterback. By midday he had activated Jayden Daniels from the injured reserve slot, where Daniels had scored 32.26 while playing a full game the week before, and cut Alvin Kamara to make the room; Kamara ran for 14.9 for the Saints as a free agent. Later on Tuesday he offered Daniels, LaPorta and Parker Washington to Carl for Chase, twice, and canceled it on Thursday. On Wednesday he moved Daniels into the lineup and Lawrence out. Lawrence threw for 306 yards and four touchdowns in Jacksonville’s 34–31 loss to Houston at Wembley, 27.34, the fourth-best score in the league, on the bench. Daniels threw for 300 and two touchdowns in Washington’s 23–17 loss at San Francisco on Monday night, 21.0. It did not matter and the Tribune mentions it because it is the second straight week the Obliterators have carried three quarterbacks and left the best one out of the quarterback slot.

The lineup was fine without him. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 12 of 16 targets for 134 yards in Seattle’s overtime loss at Denver on Thursday, 25.4, and the Broncos defense, which was on the other side of that game, intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble and sacked Seattle five times, 11, so Kyle scored 36.4 from one game while rooting for both teams. James Cook ran 22 times for 95 and a touchdown and caught three for 58 in Buffalo’s win in Las Vegas, 24.3, in the flex. D’Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns in Chicago’s win at Atlanta, 23.0. Trey McBride caught seven for 53, 12.3. Washington caught four for 64, 10.4. Jason Myers kicked 7. Bucky Irving carried 19 times for 46 yards, 6.9, in the week Kyle finally started him over Swift, which is the kind of thing that happens to Kyle with Bucky Irving. Ladd McConkey caught one pass, 2.7, on the bench. The best lineup was 147.64.

Carl’s week began on Tuesday with a waiver claim on Jordan Love, which he canceled, placed again, canceled again, and placed a third time, and which ran on Wednesday at ten dollars, with Keaton Mitchell cut. He then cut Jared Goff, his free-agent quarterback of the last three weeks, who had scored 19.36, 20.48 and 28.94, because Goff was on bye, and signed MarShawn Lloyd. Love threw for 276 yards and a touchdown with an interception and ran for a score in Green Bay’s 23–13 win over Dallas on Sunday night, 20.24. Caleb Williams, in his first game back after three out, completed his first twelve passes and 30 of 36 for 305 yards in Chicago’s 31–23 win at Atlanta, 16.5, on Carl’s bench. Lloyd carried eight times for ten yards, 1.0, in the lineup, with Kaelon Black at 4.7 on the bench. Malik Nabers, benched the previous two weeks for 52.3 points, was moved into the flex and caught 12 passes on 15 targets for 165 yards in the Giants’ loss to the Saints, 28.5, the second-best score in the league. Colston Loveland caught six for 65 and a touchdown, 18.5. Dameon Pierce, signed Friday to replace Brenton Strange, who had been signed Wednesday to replace Carnell Tate, scored a touchdown and 15.0; Tate scored 19.0 for Tennessee and Strange 9.4 for Jacksonville. George Pickens caught six for 73, 13.3. Garrett Wilson caught four for 44, 8.4. Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked the 49-yarder that beat Jacksonville as time expired, 11, and the kicker trade with Bite now reads 49 to 23 in Carl’s favor, with Bite’s half of it a free agent. The Seahawks defense scored 6. Carl’s best lineup was 125.64, so the game was never on his bench; it was on the bye.

Kyle has now won five of six with 441.2 points on his bench for the season, the most in the league, and the paper, which he publishes, has asked him to stop. Carl is 18–24 against the field, Lucky and Bad, and has spent 53 dollars of waiver money after spending none through Week 3; ten of it went to a quarterback who outscored the one he benched by 3.74. The Moth picked Kyle. Kyle plays Jordan next, who leads that series 11–9 and has the second-most points in the league. Carl plays Cliff, whom he leads 12–7.