After a disappointing Week 7, the NPIFL’s Metropolitan division took a collective breath and struck back hard at their Plas Coch foes. The Metro went 4-2 this week, with only the Brymbo teams managing to escape the onslaught. Before we begin, it’s time for Nathan’s Pix and the Best Bench of the Week.
Nathan went 4-2 this week, his best score of the season. This takes his totals to 20-28, so much like his O’s, the comeback tour has some way to go. As for the best bench, You are in Chubble came away with the week’s highest score at 89.02 points.
NPIFL Week 8 Roundup
SW 49ers (6-2) 115.32 – 131.38 WWC (3-5)
The WWC pulled off the biggest upset of the week, but given their proclivity to topple the hottest teams, the NPIFL community may not have been overly surprised. The WWC are now 3-0 against teams above .500 this season, but 0-5 against teams at or below that mark.
In what was an important and high-scoring game, the WWC put in a very good display to take down the high-flying 49ers. Kyler Murray led by example, putting up a 300-yard game and 2 passing TDs for 24.18 points.
With double TD performances from James Cook (133 total yards, 2 TDs. 26.80 points) and Rhamondre Stevenson (65 yards, 2 TDs, 1 2pt, 22.00 points), the WWC were in a very solid position. Tank Dell’s 11.50 points and a host of near-10s from the supporting cast and the NPIFL’s least predictable side took down the 6-1 San Wrexham.
The 49ers certainly didn’t go down without a fight, with Josh Allen (20.82), Joe Mixon (22.40) and Travis Kelce (20.00) putting up big points in the defeat. 13.90 points from James Connor made this one close for a while, but the remainder of the team not quite putting up the numbers meant this one got away from San Wrexham.
WWC HC Chris Ward told NFLFQS:
“We appear to be on a run of losing to minnows and yet beating the giants. Not sure I fancy our chances against Maxwell’s Damen’s lot…”
The WWC face the 4-4 Love Train in Week 9, while the 49ers take on Santos XI in a potential playoff preview.
Brymbo O’s (3-5) 133.20 – 132.20 Old England Pats (3-5)
The Brymbo Originals are on the warpath and officially back from the dead. After a 0-5 start the O’s were disrespected, disregarded and the subject of much derision. However, after three magnificent displays and a slight change in their luck, the O’s are reborn and 3-0 against the Metro.
The change in luck was on display in this tight win, as this was the kind of game that would have gone against them in their divisional matchups. Still, Brymbo will be delighted to have paid the iron price, having worked hard for their form and overcoming a lot of adversity early on.
Kyren Williams put in another tremendous display (20.10) and has yet to have a game under 12 points. He was joined in the 20 club by QB Baker Mayfield (24.30) and RB Josh Jacobs (25.00 [2 TDs]), while a TD from David Njoku (14.60), 113 yards from Garrett Wilson (13.80) and 11.50 points from Kenneth Walker III was just enough to get the win.
The Pats will be disappointed to come out as losers in this one, as they clawed themselves back into the game spectacularly. Brock Purdy led the charge with 26.00 points, while RBs Bijan Robinson (20.10) and Raheem Mostert (15.50 [2 TDs]) gave the Pats a shot at derailing Brymbo’s comeback tour.
Other notable performances included 14.70 points from Chris Olave, 13.80 from Sam LaPorta, and 11 from Dustin Hopkins. However, a potentially serious injury to WR Stefon Diggs was the real difference here, as he was on 10.20 points in the third quarter when he went down with a knee concern.
Pats HC Aminul Hassan was candid about the issues while speaking to NFLFQS on Wednesday:
“130 points and we still lost! I’d be ripping my hair out if we had any. And now Diggs is done, and so are our faint playoff hopes.”
O’s HC Nathan Adams credited his opponent after the game:
“I predicted a slim win and what’s what we got, it was an incredible game against a tough opponent but we are on a 3-game winning streak and we look forward to our upcoming game against the boss man himself.”
Adams was referring to his upcoming game versus the Leviathans in Week 9, which will also see the Pats take on an ERS in dire need of a win.
Brymbo Storm (5-3) 137.82 – 111.20 Tyreek or Treat (1-7)
The Brymbo Storm cut a two-game losing streak to extend the longest active win drought in the league. Tyreek or Treat have fallen hard since winning the Super Bowl and their Week 1 victory, and while they put up a solid score this week, the Storm were the NPIFL’s highest-scoring team.
ToT saw a solid team day, the issue was there weren’t enough stars shining brightly. D’Andre Swift’s 18.90 points led the team, and he was followed by the Steelers’ D (15), Brian Thomas Jr. (13.50) and C.J. Stroud. Other than Tyreek Hill (10.20), no one else broke 10 points and it just wasn’t enough to get in the win column.
The resurgent Storm put two disappointing defeats and three poor weeks behind them with gusto. While their QB streak of fewer than 14 points reached 18 games, the rest of the team was on form, with 9 players breaking 10 points. The standout for the day was Marvin Harrison Jr. (20.10), but the Lions D scoring 16 points was particularly pleasing to HC John Maxwell.
Maxwell spoke to NFLFQS on Tuesday:
“A huge relief to get back into the win column and see 6 TDs from the team. Our bench was obviously impressive too, so we have some decisions to make. One of those has already been made for us, as unfortunately, Christian Kirk is out for the season. We wish him a speedy recovery and will doubtless have him back on the team in 2025.”
HC Jordan Clough laughed and said:
“It’s just a shit show haha.”
The Storm will look to take some momentum into Week 9, where they face the Rams. Meanwhile, ToT will make a last stand to stop the bleeding against you are in Chubble. If they do go 1-8, their season is all but mathematically over and a Famous Idaho Potato Bowl would be the best they can hope for.
You are in Chubble (6-2) 107.16 – 136.06 Leviathans (4-4)
You are in Chubble tasted a rare defeat at the hands of the Leviathans as the bite of the beast was too much for the Plas Coch’s No.1 offense to recover from. The Leviathans have compiled back-to-back wins for the first time this season and appear to be finding their groove at a very important time.
YAIC had a decent start to the game, and the spine of the team once again showed out. Lamar Jackson (24.16) and Derrick Henry (14.20) combined for 38 points, while “Scary Terry” McLaurin came away with 15.00 from 125 receiving years. The issue was that there wasn’t a whole lot else going on and other than TE Dalton Kincaid (11.10), no one else broke 10 points.
Meanwhile, Lloyds put up the second-best score in the NPIFL this week, largely thanks to a colossal display from QB Jalen Hurts. Hurts put up 35.14 points from 236 passing yards, 1 passing TD, 37 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs. He was the top scorer of the week and papered over a 0.80-point day from Amari Cooper.
With 14.60 from Najee Harris and 13.20 from Rachaad White, the foundations were there for a big day. George Kittle recorded 128 yards and a TD to celebrate National Tight End Day, while Courtland Sutton (13.12) and A.J. Brown (10.90) both broke 10 points.
HC Tom Lloyd was in a loquacious and creative mood, and NFLFQS did have to separate the meat from the gravy with some of his comments:
“We here are forged by our losses, we come out stronger,” the 4-4 manager noted, leading many to the conclusion that the Leviathans must be very strong indeed by now, given their history.
“Like a smith putting fire to a blade only to come out better for it. Beating one of the Super Bowl favourites this year wasn’t easy, but we went Mixon up some trouble and put Oliver in serious chubble.
“Next week we return to Brymbo, to take on the resurgent Originals. A tough match, especially with all of the byes we have, but we make no excuses,” Lloyd said, contradicting himself. “Next man up and all.”
Oliver Bailey of YAIC told NFLFQS:
“Well, the end of our unbeaten run has left us feeling a bit down this week, but the boys are brimming with character and are eager to rise to the challenge once more.
“Congratulations to Tom, and thank you for reminding us to never take any game for granted. Honestly, we thought we had this one locked down, but now we find ourselves dealing with a bit of Chubb rub. Let’s regroup and face what’s next together.“
The upcoming game between the Leviathans and O’s is highly anticipated already. The Brymbo team will be hoping to pass Lloyds in the table and enter the playoff bubble after the worst start in NPIFL history. As for You are in Chubble, they look to pile on the misery for Tyreek or Treat, whose 7-game winless streak ties the NPIFL record.
St. Lewis Rams (6-2) 116.84 – 100.44 Love Train (4-4)
The St. Lewis Rams got a very lucky break in their game vs. the Love Train, as Packers QB Jordan Love exited the game in the first half. The Love Train were up against it from then on but were not far from pulling off an unlikely comeback. With the loss, TLT fell three spots in the NPIFL, but at 4-4 are well within range of the playoffs. At 6-2, the Rams need four wins from seven games to be a lock, as 10-5 has always resulted in postseason football.
The crazy 60-yard Hail Mary TD from Jayden Daniels, which somehow found its way to a receiver, summed up the difference in fortune between these teams this week. Daniels finished on 22.24 points, the most from the matchup, while an injured Love recorded 5.74.
Daniels was followed by Jonathan Taylor, who put up 18.20 points on his return from injury after three games. Justin Jefferson came away with a respectable 15.50 points, while Trey McBride’s 124 yards might have changed HC Lewis Done’s mind after his comments about the TE position being a waste of time. 11 points from Ka’imi Fairbairn and 12.80 from Kerby Joseph helped the Rams to 6-2.
For the Love Train, Zay Flowers was the star of what was a straight-to-DVD show, recording 15.00 points. Deebo Samuel had a 75-yard TD pulled back, and finished on 10.60 points while Aaron Jones recorded 10.50.
That, however, was really that from the offensive players. As has been noted by Leviathans HC Tom Lloyd, TLT’s DSTs have been impressive this season, although he does not seem to have meant it as a compliment. TLT saw kicker Chris Boswell come away with 14.00 points, while the Chargers D (12.00) and Budda Baker (10.00) pulled their weight in the loss.
St. Lewis HC Lewis Done’s comments were difficult to interpret in terms of relevance and meaning, so we have included them in full this week:
“What a fantastic game, The Flying Scotsman – wow what a team. I am going to learn a lot from The Queen of the Sea; because they did really well. We have to be humble and accept that they did really well.
“They played really well. The Ciurea Station side didn’t create many chances or score many points but it was an incredible effort to get in the same ball game as us. We created chances that we couldn’t convert but the result is good.
“We take our season one game at a time and having added Boo Nixon for Halloween we can’t wait to go toe to toe with one of the giants of the league in what the fans are calling the Touchdown of Terror showdown.”
Love Train HC Damen Griffiths said the following after the game:
“Tough one to take this week, we’ve had a bad run with injuries which have really affected our potential. Despite the trade rumors around the league we’re really happy with our squad and confident we can build on the position we’re in, particularly with a much easier matchup this week.”
The Love Train will look to get back on track versus an improved WWC while the Rams have an intriguing battle against the Storm to prefer for.
Eagles Raid Steelers (2-6) 95.06 – 125.40 Santos XI (5-3)
The ERS continued their rough season with a heavy loss to Santos XI. Failing to break 100 points nearly always ends up in defeat and Week 8 was no different. Interestingly, a petition is doing the rounds, which demands the ERS to stop using the Steelers’ name. The petition notes that the Pittsburgh franchise has not had a losing season since 2003, which is a stark discrepancy to the ERS’ history (consisting of one winning campaign to date).
You know a team is struggling when the off-field stories are this negative, and the on-field product was disappointing in Week 8. HC Dan Gittins did not fix his lineup, fielding injured TE Dallas Goedert, who was ruled out of the game far in advance.
Perhaps the worst part of the loss is that any changes made wouldn’t have altered the result, as other than 12.10 points from Mark Andrews, no one on the bench got up to much. The real issue at the ERS is inconsistency.
There are some terrific players here, some of which are putting up big points every week. Jahmyr Gibbs (19.80) and Ja’Marr Chase (15.90) have been the standouts on the ERS all season, and were joined by Tyrone Tracy, who put up 22.00 points in the loss. There are just too many passengers regularly on board the team, and a disappointing game by Bengals QB Joe Burrow compounded the issue in Week 8.
Meanwhile, a much-discussed decision to cut Patrick Mahomes, a viable trade target for many teams in QB trouble, was followed by a terrible day at the office by Geno Smith (8.08). Mahomes, rostered in 98.7% of fantasy leagues, has a new home in a Santos rival, the SW 49ers.
The good news for the XI is that it mattered not in Week 8, as a huge day from CeeDee Lamb (34.10) was accompanied by important scores from De’Von Achane (23.70), David Montgomery (14.42) and Tucker Kraft (15.30). Aside from the above, only Chase Brown (10.40) broke 10 points.
NFLFQS spoke to both HCs after the game, starting with Dan Gittins of the ERS:
“F*cking tough week, tough game, tough life… We just got to do what we can to end the season strong… 
Let’s hustle.”
Santos HC Chris Faulkner was pleased to see his stars make the headlines after a tough few games:
“Tremendous to get a win under our belt after a difficult couple of weeks. Lamb and Achane back and firing should worry the rest of the league.”
Santos have an intriguing battle versus the 49ers coming up in Week 9, which will also see the ERS take on Tyreek or Treat.
NPIFL Standings
