Vampire League – Week 3 to Week 4

The latest in the series examines how Stormula fared in his wicked Week 3 match and look forward to who he has selected to face next.

Time already eats into the season, and Count Stormula entered Week 3 on 1-1. After a stunning defeat last week at the hands of Andre, was our Count out for the count? Let’s review the Week 3 matches and how it affected the Vampire and his opponent…

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

So far, this season’s Thursday Night Football has exceeded all expectations. And although the billing of the ‘Dolphins @ Jaguars’ didn’t look appetising, the match itself wasn’t half bad! And, better yet, the Vampire had players taking part. Stormula had opted to go with two Jacksonville players to make sure he had a lead going into the Sunday games. And it was UDFA Running Back James Robinson, surely the early pickup of the season so far, that led the way. Although his ground yards weren’t considerable, he did see two rushing touchdowns. And several searing catch and runs through the Dolphins defense gave him 83 yards on 6 receptions – bumping up that final total to over 30 points. 

Stormula had also put in Keelan Cole, one of Gardner Minshew‘s early favourite targets, His 4 receptions on 5 targets produced 43 yards. Cole had found a receiving touchdown in his first two games, so he could also be another great pick up by the Vampire. 

As the Thursday Night football came to an end, the Vampire stood over his opponent by 39.2 points. That lead looked considerable, although Pittsy had his whole team to play. There was plenty of action still to go, and the Sunday matches were not short of it.

SUNDAY MATCHES

While the points were racking up on the field during the Sunday games, things didn’t seem to be going right for the Vampire. Patriots Quarterback Cam Newton hit a slight bump in the road after two high-calibre weeks. Newton struggled in the air against the Las Vegas Raiders defense. His running game spread itself out between an ever-growing committee of Running Backs. Rex Burkhead took the spoils with his first three touchdown game, and left the others with just their yardage points.

Josh Jacobs found it difficult on the opposing team, and even lost a fumble to make matters worse. Darius Slayton also caused a turnover, and Eagles Tight End Dallas Goedert left the game early due to an ankle injury. On the whole, not a great day for the main Daywalkers’ offensive players. 

But not only did they have a Sunday to forget…so did the players from Count Dakcula. The beleaguered Running Back stable managed 5.6 points between them. The Steelers Defense, so solid in Weeks 1 and 2, were porous against the Texans. Game winner Greg ‘the Leg’ Zuerlein was left largely forgotten as the Cowboys were shooting out with the Seahawks. Although Mike Evans and Hayden Hurst went some way to trying to narrow the deficit, but the damage was done. 

So the main offensive armies were stuck at a stalemate. But where big names failed, the oft-forgotten came to strike the decisive blows. Packers kicker Mason Crosby turned up to do his master’s bidding. 13 points and not one missed kick, all taken from a variety of ranges. And not only that, but Stormula’s defence of choice this week was the Colts. Indianapolis scored two pick sixes from three interceptions, and only conceded 7 points. In the Vampire league, 26 points does not get sniffed at. And once the Vampire has his teeth in you, his kiss is deadly. 

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL

Now the Vampire had a 66.78 point lead heading into Monday. And it was likely that the Vampire had his second victim with just one game to go. 

The small solace for Pittsy was that his Quarterback and one of his Wide Receivers were yet to play. It was down to Lamar Jackson and Hollywood Brown to be the saviours now…

But, instead of running up points for their leader, Jackson and Brown ran away. Which is really all they could do as the Chiefs defence kept Jackson’s passing yardage to under 100 yards. Which, when you’re needing them to pull back a lead, is less than ideal. Jackson and Brown ended up with less than 20 points between them and Count Dakcula ended up with the lowest score of the week. The Daywalkers stormed to a 105.68 – 54.38 victory. 

And with that came a death knell for Pittsy’s team. They were about to lose a key member of their offensive line up. The Vampire, fickle as always with a victory, sacrificed the first Wide Receiver to play this week. Keelan Cole joined Count Dakcula…to be replaced by Mike Evans. Now that Chris Godwin is likely to be out  with that recurrent hamstring issue, Evan looks to be a tasty treat to add to the Daywalkers’ line-up. 

And now, with a rejuvanated squad, who does the Count look to in Week 4 to continue his wicked streak? His answer is in and it looks like it is another of the 5 Yard Rush team who could feel the wrath of Stormula…

They’re Creepy and They’re Kooky…

It’s Jamal Addams Family! Tom’s team is the next in the sights of our resident Vampire. So who does he have fighting for his freedom in the fight against the fiend?

Up until Week 2, he would have had Saquon Barkley as his feature back, but the Giants’ Running Back’s injury has left a gaping hole in available talent. Instead, he now has to rely on Atlanta’s Todd Gurley and the Buccs duo of Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette. 

Indeed, the Tampa theme continues into the Quarterbacks. Tom Brady is a member of the line-up. The Buccs face Stormula’s chosen team, the Chargers, this week – so perhaps that had some bearing on his decision. The Colts’ Philip Rivers, struggling with interceptions at present, is Tom’s second Quarterback. 

Perhaps it is another Wide Receiver that Stormula has cast his eye upon. J.A.F. has got a delightfully delicious stable of wide men. Top performers Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins have been victually ever present for his starting line up. And the Cowboys’ Michael Gallup and Indy’s T.Y. Hilton sit as capable backups. So any one of those could make a perfect complement to the Daywalkers’ newly acquired Buccaneer. 

Or perhaps it could be those consistently performing Tight Ends? Noah Fant and Mike Gesicki have seen very decent weeks to start the season. Could the Count want a new addition in that area? Finally, Younghoe Koo is the J.A.F kicker, and the Eagles are the DST of choice.

Make no mistake, there will be some tough decisions for Tom to make when he thinks about who he wants to risk against the Vampire. 

WAIVER WIRE WICKEDNESS

We have yet to see if Stormula is to make any waiver changes. Perhaps he could refer to the 5 Yard Rush streaming and waiver articles to help him out? After all, he’s the only one in the league who can use them! He has free reign of all available, and he could use it to find his third win of the year…

One thing’s for sure…

You never count out the Count!

Rob @CowsillRob