Week 4/5
The 2026 NFL season has been an odd one for sure. I mean who saw Kirk Cousins being the 7th highest scoring QB after the first full weeks of the season. The one thing that is consistent is that the NFL is a copycat league. One team figures something out, wins a few games, and suddenly 31 other teams are raiding the coaching tree like it’s Black Friday at the playbook warehouse. This year’s trends are a perfect example. Penalties are piling up, coaches are getting increasingly aggressive on fourth down, and quarterbacks are moving back under center. Apparently, after years of spreading everybody out and throwing the ball all over the stadium, the league has decided that maybe football should involve a little more actual football.
Let’s start with the flags. Through the first four weeks, the league is seeing its highest weekly penalty rate since 2015, with 16.9 penalties per game. Nothing says “professional football” quite like a 12-play drive featuring three flags, two replays, and a 10-minute discussion about whether a defensive back breathed too aggressively near a receiver. For fantasy managers, this is another reminder that a promising drive can disappear in a hurry. For NFL coaches, it’s a reminder that discipline matters. For the rest of us, it’s another reason to keep the remote handy.
Meanwhile, fourth-down aggression continues to reshape the game. Coaches are increasingly willing to trust analytics, keep the offense on the field, and risk handing their opponent a short field rather than automatically punting. Sometimes it looks brilliant. Sometimes it looks like a coach who just discovered a spreadsheet and decided to bet his entire season on it. The math may say go for it, but there’s still a difference between being analytically aggressive and being stubborn. One wins games; the other becomes a 30-second clip on every sports talk show Monday morning.
The biggest change, though, might be the return of old-school offense. Quarterbacks lined up under center on 47% of early-down plays through Week 4, up from 40% last season and a low of 33% in 2023. Teams are rediscovering the running game, play-action, and the value of tight ends who can actually block instead of just running down the seam and catching passes. Naturally, defenses are countering with more linebacker blitzes, because nothing says “welcome back to traditional football” like sending a 240-pound linebacker directly into your quarterback’s chest. The lesson for fantasy owners? Keep an eye on offensive schemes, rushing opportunities, and tight-end usage. The NFL never stops evolving. It just occasionally circles back to something Vince Lombardi would recognize.
But at the end of the day we are all just trying to score as many fantasy points as possible in this envionrment and we are each living with the results of our decisions. And I thought this was representative of how each of us feels right now:
The first rendition of 2026 Rivalry Weeks have come and passed. Rivalry Week is the annual reminder that fantasy football history is only useful until somebody loses to a team they’re supposed to beat. The Commish entered Week 4 with a 14–7 record in Rivalry Week meetings against Jerry’s Belt Buckle, only to get bounced 91–70. That’s three consecutive Rivalry Week losses for me (sigh). Meanwhile, Kayak Pirates took care of the icon, 79–61, despite trailing 14–17 in their history of Rivalry Week matchups. Jeff has now won four straight Rivalry Week meetings in this series, which means Overbay might want to stop calling this a rivalry and start calling it a scheduling problem (I can relate with this concern). But hey, at least the icon has a rich history to look back on while staring at the standings.
The real tragedy of the week, of course, belongs to The Institute, which lost 111–110 to black is for sunday on a last-second Monday Night Football touchdown. The Institute entered the matchup with an 18–13 edge in Rivalry Week history, so naturally VZ found a way to lose in the most psychologically destructive manner possible. Three consecutive Rivalry Week losses to Brent W have now turned a historically favorable matchup into a recurring appointment with misery. Somewhere, VZ is still refreshing the box score, hoping the NFL will discover a clerical error. It won’t.
Elsewhere, This Is The Way finally gave showmedamoney! something to think about, obliterating Billy 160–96. Aaron entered the matchup with a miserable 3–12 Rivalry Week record against Billy, so this wasn’t just a win; it was an emphatic rejection of 15 games’ worth of historical evidence. Dirty Mike & The Boys also edged KRABS, 80–75, improving to 6–9 in Rivalry Week meetings against Kris and finally putting an end to a three-game losing streak in this matchup.
Things I Am Watching During Week 5
Is Michael Wilson really about to be a top 5 wide receiver in Fantasy?
Can black is for sunday win with a lineup that consists of Malik Washington and Aaron Jones?
What is the Bengals offense going to look like this week? Will Chase and Higgins play?
Will the non stop injuries just end already? Please?
How good is Matthew Golden? Can he score his 4th game of 8+ fantasy points?
Is Justin Jefferson healthy and back and can he help The Institute recover from a brutal MNF loss?
Do The Groovy Pinchers regret asking for support for Chris Olave to help him tie on Monday night vs. score enough points to win (true story)?
Can I keep the momentum up and score 2+ points from the Tight End position? or is that asking for too much?
Before we get to this week’s awards, check out this week’s episode of Gridiron Heights.
Season 11, Episode 5
Manager of the Weak
Injustice. That is the only logical thing that is happening now. A complete and utter injustice. Laugh it up funny boys, send me screenshots from my wife's Facebook posts. Have the time of your life people. Ha ha , funny ha ha.
But let's play a little game. Hypothetical scenario if you will. Tell the truth to the question below. Let's see what the poll says:
If You Could Keep Your Current Record But Trade Your Roster Right Now With The Commish: Would You?
Yes (His keepers are amazing)
No (Liar)
Move the Week
Picking the right defense has always been a challenge over the years and with the rise of upsets and surprise performances it has always been difficult to do it consistently. In Week 4 Dirty Mike made the right move with his aggressive and bold decision to start the fairly week Green Bay Packers defense on the road vs. the Baker Mayfield less Bucs. 66% of the Bucs fantasy performances were 1 or less points prior to Week 4 so this was definitely a bold call. But the Packers were able to reward Brent for his faith and scored 8 points in a 5 point Rivalry Week victory. Congrats to Cozart for winning the Week 4 Move of the Week!
MVP
Bryce Young, Devaughn Vele, Sam Darnold, Sam LaPorta, Tetairoa McMillan
I am not sure the MVP decision gets any easier than this. Rivalry Week? Last 2 minutes? Some random guy who I was talking smack about earlier this season in the column? Amazing toe tapping catch? Beating The Institute by 1 point? I mean step right up Devaughn Vele. You are immediately a Playoffs!?! Fantasy Football Legend!
Manager of the Week
Well Aaron just wrote a new line into the league history books with his Week 4 performance. 160 points is now the fourth highest scoring week in league history passing my week 8 2022 performance of 157 points (sigh). This roster doesn't look to have any weaknesses right now if Jared Goff is going to keep scoring points. Now obviously the Panthers can't play the Lions every week and McMillian can't catch EVERY pass in every game, but this roster is putting together a great "ham and egg" performance of having players score points in the right times. And as long as Bijan Robinson is running wild anything can happen. Congrats to Aaron and the entire This Is The Way Franchise for winning the Week 4 Manager of the Week!
Until Week 5/6,
-The Commish
P.S. I have people everywhere.
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