New lows

Coming into week 7, the Horsemen are currently experiencing their worst season in team history. No one within the program expected to set a new low mark of 3-3 at this point. They are currently scoring 96.5% of the average league production, having never come in below 100% in the existence of the team. They have also hit low marks in average margin (-11.0) after never having seen a deficit prior. Compounding on these poor statistical measures, they’ve seen the most points against for the franchise(117.5) and have the 3rd most points against on the season. The 86.7 points they scored last week? This was the least since week 11 of 2017 – they have only broken 100 three times through 6 weeks, whereas last year they never scored below 100.

Straight Laced is riding pretty high right now. They’re 2nd in the league in fines, have the 2nd fewest points against on the year, and are poised to make the playoffs for the 2nd time in team history. This also marks the 2nd time they’ve had a winning record through 6 in team history.

Laces come equipped with several players who’ve recently played for the Horsemen. Fournette and Diggs came over in the offseason for picks and Michael Thomas, Mark Ingram joined the team in the trade the sent over Todd Gurley. Lots of revenge game narratives are in play, but the Horsemen have their backs to the wall this week and need a victory to keep hope alive… and maintain relevance.

The Horsemen continue their 14 game streak of being the favorite, with a 6.7 point line. ESPN has them with a 52% chance of victory, while FantasyPros comes in at 51.1%.

Based on odds projections, it would appear that the field of playoff teams is down to 7. The Dangerous Angels and Electric Horsemen are in a tight battle, one that may come down to their week 10 head to head. Speaking of the Angels, they would be this weeks largest gainer – moving up from 46 to 67 – while the Electric Horsemen suffered the biggest drop – from 87 to 71 – after their embarrassing loss to Legs With Holes. The 3 Horsemen losses this year have been to teams with 5% or less odds at making the playoffs.

• Nosebleeds @ Bumpy’s Berries – The breaking point for 2 win teams comes in week 7, with no 2-5 or worse team recovering to make the playoffs. As such, this week will be the breaking point for the Nosebleeds – who will have nothing to play for but The Battle of TC Jester.
• Pork Shanks @ Strictly Southern – If there were ever a week for  Pork Shanks to pull off an upset, this is the one. With what is likely a record for bye week players, Southern is extremely short handed. While they finally added a quarterback, they still may need some defensive help. It seems like Southern may have accepted a loss this week for the greater good.
• Drunken Aces @ 3rd and Unpredictable – Unpredictable not looking so invincible anymore, with depth issues arising with an injury to Kamara – who may not return for 3 weeks. The Aces pull off the unthinkable, but still have no shot at making the playoffs.
• Legs With Holes @ Dangerous Angels – Legs’ hopes fall back on Mahomes and we know what happened to Mahomes. They won’t win again until he returns… in week… 11? But 2020 is the year, anyway.
• Heavy Pistols @ Closet Hillbilly – Upsets are the theme of the day. The Pistols get Saquon back after several weeks off and some important pieces return from bye. Hillbilly loses here and muddles up the playoff picture a little bit.