Carl vs Cliff

Cliff beat Carl 120.14 to 106.46 and is 3–4, out of last place in the standings and still last in points, all-play and points allowed. Carl is 3–4, and for the first time this season he lost a game with a winning lineup on his roster; his best lineup was 145.42, which beats Cliff by 25, and he scored 106.46, which loses by 13.68. He was the only owner in the league without one of these, and he leads the series 12–8.

Cliff’s week was a running back and tight end carousel that ended, for once, with the right men on the field. He had cut David Montgomery for Woody Marks in Week 6 and cut Marks two days later; this week he signed Montgomery on Wednesday, cut him for Marks on Thursday, started Marks on Sunday morning and benched him for Braelon Allen before the early games. Allen ran 17 times for 104 yards and caught six for 30 in the Jets’ loss to Miami, 19.4; Marks ran for 66 on the bench, 9.1. He had cut T.J. Hockenson in Week 6 as well, and on Sunday morning he signed him again and started him over Travis Kelce, the four-dollar man of the week before; Hockenson caught four for 35 and a touchdown, 13.5, and Kelce caught four for 44 on the bench, 8.4. Drake Maye completed 24 of 31 for 321 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third in the Patriots’ 30–24 loss at Chicago on Thursday, 27.44, the second-best quarterback score in the league; Bryce Young, on the bench, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in the 43–13 loss to Tampa Bay, 5.42, so the quarterback call was right by 22. Jahmyr Gibbs ran 29 times for 116 and caught five for 27 with a lost fumble, 17.3. Christian Watson caught five for 57 in the Packers’ loss at Detroit, 10.7. The Steelers defense held New Orleans to ten in Paris, 9. Tyler Loop 7. A.J. Brown caught three for 48 for New England, 7.8, and Tetairoa McMillan four for 40, 8.0. Rome Odunze scored 10.9 on the bench, so the best lineup was 124.34 and the one he used was close enough.

Carl’s best lineup was 145.42 and the 38.96 he left on the bench is a list of men he knows well. Caleb Williams completed 22 of 33 for 308 yards and two touchdowns in Chicago’s win over New England, 22.12, on the bench for the second week in a row behind Jordan Love, who completed 27 of 45 for 274, two touchdowns and an interception in the Packers’ 20–17 loss at Detroit, 16.96. Ollie Gordon ran 25 times for 103 and a touchdown in Miami’s win at the Jets, 17.3, on the bench, because Carl moved him out before the early games to start Saquon Barkley, who ran seven times for 62 and a touchdown on Monday night, 15.1. George Pickens caught a touchdown on Monday night, 15.7, on the bench behind Garrett Wilson, who caught two for 26, 4.6. The Seahawks defense, which Carl drafted at pick 101 and which held Kansas City to three points on Sunday night, scored 9 on the bench, because on Thursday night Carl signed the Titans defense and started it instead; the Titans allowed 27 and 491 yards to Cleveland and scored 0. Kaelon Black scored a touchdown, 10.9, on the bench. Aaron Jones ran eight times for 26 in the lineup, 3.6. The men who did play well were the usual ones. Colston Loveland caught seven of twelve targets for 69 and a touchdown, 19.9. Malik Nabers caught seven for 111, 18.1. Ja’Marr Chase caught a touchdown from Burrow, 17.2. Ka’imi Fairbairn 11.

The Moth had written that Carl’s running back room would decide the game even if Nabers scored 25, and that is what happened, with the room on the bench. Carl also claimed Emmett Johnson on Wednesday for one dollar, the man Dite signed and cut inside a day in Week 6, and bid eleven dollars on Germie Bernard, which failed because Kyle bid forty. Carl is 20–29 against the field and Lucky and Bad, with 817.06 points, the second-fewest in the league. Cliff is 15–34 against the field, last, with 815.14 points, the fewest, and has allowed 955.24, the second-most, and is Lucky and Bad with a win.

The Moth picked Cliff and was right. Cliff plays Kyle next in Pronamel vs. Power Rankings, and trails that series 8–11; Kyle has scored 170 or more in four of seven weeks. Carl plays Thomas, who beat him in Week 1, and who has started a running back Kyle cut in October to 36.5 points.