This was another very interesting week as deploying the known entity in the Arizona running backs was a winning play despite four other groups outperforming them at the position. Let’s dive right in.

Main Event Winner: “bnak”

Tampa Bay Quarterbacks: The Tampa Bay quarterbacks and wide receivers cards have been among the most bankable performers on the season to this point. In this lineup, “bank” decided to play the quarterbacks on their own, which I like since Antonio Brown was ruled out and Rob Gronkowski returned to action before leaving early with an injury. Those variables made deciding which one of those options to play more of a difficult decision than it has been while Gronk was out and Brown was active.

Arizona Running Backs: This was not the top performer at the position this week. In fact, it was fifth. But since Arizona played last Thursday we already knew this group put together a rock solid fantasy performance. Going with the known entity paid off with a trip to Miami for “bnak”, as this was a difference making decision in this week’s Main Event.

Los Angeles (National) Wide Receivers: This group has been another bankable performer in The Owners Club this season and they hit yet again in Houston. We’ve actually seen this before in a winning lineup where the user split the Los Angeles and Tampa Bay passing games by playing the quarterback of one offense with the wide receivers of the other.

Minnesota Tight Ends: This was definitely a contrarian play as the Minnesota tight ends group is more of a back of the middle option and the game environment on Sunday night lost a great deal of its luster when Dak Prescott ultimately sat out. Still, being different can be valuable in large tournaments and the Minnesota tight ends group put up relatively equal production compared to the other options that top performing lineups deployed at the position.

Philadelphia Defense: This was also pretty contrarian but very logical as Detroit has been one of the worst offenses in the sport and Philadelphia, while not a consistently high performing defense, has some impact players on that side of the ball. This was another difference making play that helped “bank” take down this week’s Main Event in pretty decisive fashion.

Side Hustle Winner: “Big Umbrella”

Tampa Bay Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers: Twenty-three different users deployed this duo in the Side Hustle, with “Big Umbrella” landing on top with the lowest serial number. At the end of the day stacking what has been the best passing offense in football to this point is simply a good decision.

Lowball Winner: “TylerDurdenHeat”

Detroit Quarterbacks: Simply put, Detroit is a bottom tier offense and stacking their quarterback with their wide receivers is a pretty doable move just about every week in Lowball.

Buffalo Running Backs: This play surprised me in this lineup as Buffalo was in a situation against Miami where any of their position groups could have easily scored at least once. With that said, Buffalo is not very reliant on their running backs and therefore their usage has been very sporadic over the last two plus years. Real sharp, contrarian play in this contest given the matchup.

Detroit Wide Receivers: It’s kind of amazing that this group has been the fifth lowest scorer at the position and not the outright lowest scorer.

New Orleans Tight Ends: Great play here as this group is capable of putting up a goose egg virtually any week.

Detroit Defense: Detroit and Houston both provide our users with a number of Lowball options every week. Super stacking Detroit brought home a win for apparent Fight Club enthusiast “TylerDurdenHeat.”

Island of Misfit Cards Winner: “Council5”

New York (National) Tight Ends and Philadelphia Defense: The New York tight ends were a pretty contrarian play in an appealing game environment. Getting two touchdowns out of that generally underwhelming group was a money maker for “Council5” this week. The Philadelphia defense helped a number of our users make high-performing lineups, as the Main Event winner also played the Philadelphia defense against Detroit on the road.

Various Things

Philadelphia and New York (American) running backs each put up 38 plus points and were not in any top performing lineups this week. They are both still bottom five performers at the position on the season despite these slate leading performances. This is another example that any card has the chance to have a difference making spike week, though some of them (like these) remain difficult to play alongside top performers like the Tampa Bay or Buffalo offenses.

Tight ends and especially defenses were big time difference makers among some of the top Main Event lineups in Week 8. On the other side of things, the Cleveland running backs card (which is the top performer at the position on the season) underwhelmed against Pittsburgh which hurt a number of the highest scoring lineups in this week’s Main Event.

Thursday Night: Indianapolis vs New York (American)

My expectation in this game is that it will be back to reality for the New York passing offense, though their running backs could continue to see massive volume in that phase. Their wide receivers also come with some interesting upside as Indianapolis is better suited to deal with passes to running backs than Cincinnati. New York’s tight ends have been the worst performer at the position so far this season, making them a potential Lowball option this week and beyond.

Indianapolis gets home games against New York this week and Jacksonville next week, putting all of their options in plus matchups. The Indianapolis running backs card has been their most consistent performer on the season as expected and pairing them with their defense in either of these matchups is worthy of consideration, though we’ll get to see how things play out against New York on Thursday. The Indianapolis passing game is also in play in each of these two matchups just as they were last week against Tennessee.