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Written by Cory Puffett
Published September 17, 2026
Welcome back to the AFL for our 14th season! I wish I had more time to dedicate to writing for our league. Fortunately, League Legacy has us covered. The writing is AI-generated but it's decent and I've been able to get as much data as possible into the site so players info can be included.
If you'd like to check out recaps of all six games this week, and a preview of Week 2, you can check it out on League Legacy.
Additionally, I've had the site run a more in-depth Rivalry Spotlight feature story for our Week 2 Game of the Week between Brandon Saunders and Alex Mayo in a rematch of Sabol Bowl XI.
Let's jump into all the good stuff from Week 1!
Game of the Week: Anthony Battle (100.12) vs Brandon Saunders (124.48)
Game of the Week: Anthony Battle (100.12) vs Brandon Saunders (124.48)
All-time H2H: Brandon leads series 13-9
It’s been a bumpy road over the years for reigning Sabol Bowl champions in Week 1 of their title defense. Overall, they were 7-5 in the season-opening game of the week entering 2026, not including Brandon’s loss in Week 1 of the 2013 season when he was coming off the final league title of the AFL’s predecessor.
This was Brandon’s sixth time playing in the Week 1 game of the week, and his victory improves his record in those games to 3-3 and improves the defending champions’ record to 8-5.
After Anthony opened the scoring with 7 points from Seahawks kicker Jason Myers in Wednesday’s NFL opener, both managers had to wait until Sunday’s 1 o’clock window to resume their contest.
Though Brandon suffered from some friendly fire as Jaxson Dart scored 29 points for Anthony, just about everything else went the way for the two-time Sabol Bowl champ. Ashton Jeanty got his sophomore campaign off to a hot start with more than 31 points and both of Brandon’s specialists eclipsed 15 points for the week.
Anthony's top scorer: Jaxson Dart, QB | 29.05 points
Brandon's top scorer: Ashton Jeanty, RB | 31.79 points
Stephen April (157.33) vs Will Massimini (92.97)
Stephen April (157.33) vs Will Massimini (92.97)
All-time H2H: Stephen leads series 6-5
Stephen's top scorer: Kenneth Walker, RB | 35.89 points
Will's top scorer: Zay Flowers, WR | 24.75 points
William Battle (148.57) vs Cory Puffett (85.51)
William Battle (148.57) vs Cory Puffett (85.51)
All-time H2H: Cory leads series 10-7
William's top scorer: Derrick Henry, RB | 37.87 points
Cory's top scorer: Lamar Jackson, QB | 26.46 points
Sean Kennedy (84.17) vs Alex Mayo (137.92)
Sean Kennedy (84.17) vs Alex Mayo (137.92)
All-time H2H: Alex leads series 6-4
Sean's top scorer: Bijan Robinson, RB | 27.23 points
Alex's top scorer: Christian Watson, WR | 30.65 points
Evan Ash (117.09) vs Eric Meyer (108.49)
Evan Ash (117.09) vs Eric Meyer (108.49)
All-time H2H: Series tied 10-10
Evan's top scorer: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB | 35.22 points
Eric's top scorer: Jalen Hurts, QB | 24.77 points
Alex Kincaid (115.74) vs William Kellogg (80.20)
Alex Kincaid (115.74) vs William Kellogg (80.20)
All-time H2H: Alex leads series 1-0
Alex's top scorer: Justin Jefferson, WR | 27.55 points
William's top scorer: Jonathan Taylor, RB | 25.37 points
Free Agent All-Stars vs Tom Brady Award Winner
Every week, we take the best possible lineup made of players who were available on waivers in the AFL at the end of the week and compare it to the top scoring team of the week in our league. Included percentages for the Free Agent All-Star players represent the percentage of FleaFlicker leagues in which each the player was rostered as of data gathering (usually Tuesday morning).
Final Score:
Free Agent All-Stars – 155.20
Stephen April – 157.33
YTD Tom Brady Award Winner Record: 1-0
IR Report
In our league, any player can be placed on IR regardless of injury designation. Once on IR, the player cannot be moved, dropped, or traded for a minimum of three weeks.
After Week 1, IR placements are retroactive to the prior week as long as the player was already on the team's roster but was not in the starting lineup during that prior week. This means those players will be eligible to come off IR after just a two-week stay.
Competitive Lineup Penalty Report
This year, we instituted a new rule requiring managers to start a full lineup of active players. A strike system penalizes managers who leave inactive players, or players on bye, in their starting lineup.
Strike 1: No penalty
Strike 2: Fine of $100 FAAB + move to back of all postseason tiebreakers
Strike 3: Repeat Strike 2 penalty + move to back of every round of next year's draft
Strike 4: Dismissal from AFL
Strikes clear in reverse order, two seasons (currently 30 regular season weeks) after the first earned strike.
Weekly Manager Awards
How were this week's $10 divvied up? Weekly awards with no financial benefit can also be found here
Weekly Manager Awards
How were this week's $10 divvied up? Weekly awards with no financial benefit can also be found here
$4 - Tom Brady Award (Highest Scorer) Stephen April #15 in his career
157.33 points Ranks #59 all-time
$1 - Norm Van Brocklin Award (Top QB) William Battle #16 in his career (5th most all-time)
Josh Allen, 36.95 20th career QB1 week
$1 - Adrian Peterson Award (Top RB) William Battle #17 in his career (t-3rd most all-time)
Derrick Henry, 37.87 12th career RB1 week
$1 - Flipper Anderson Award (Top WR) Alex Mayo #6 in his career
Christian Watson, 30.65 1st career WR1 week
$1 - Shannon Sharpe Award (Top TE) William Battle #12 in his career
Dallas Goedert, 22.15 6th career TE1 week
$1 - Scott O'Brien Award (Top K) Evan Ash #16 in his career (t-5th most all-time)
Evan McPherson, 20.50 4th career K1 week
$1 - Chuck Noll Award (Top DEF) Brandon Saunders #12 in his career
Pittsburgh Steelers, 19.99 12th DEF1 week all-time
Alvin Kamara Award (Top Player) William Battle #18 in his career (3rd most all-time)
Derrick Henry, 37.87 7th career Kamara Award
David Carr Award (Lowest Scorer) William Kellogg #1 in his careerâ€
#1 Power Ranking Stephen April #22 in his career (3rd most all-time)
#12 Power Ranking William Kellogg #1 in his careerâ€
†William Kellogg joins William Battle (2013) and Alex Mayo (2020) as the third manager to claim the David Carr Award and the #12 position in the power rankings in his AFL debut.
Milestones reached
These managers reached significant milestones this week (powered by League Legacy)
Milestones reached
These managers reached significant milestones this week (powered by League Legacy)
Achievements
Alex Mayo 50 career wins (incl. playoffs)
10,000 career points
Will Massimini 1,000 career all-play wins
Stephen April 10 career #1 scoring weeks
Blunders
Evan Ash 1,000 career all-play loss
Coaching Report
Who earned or cost him team the most points or a win based on coaching decisions? Find out here.
Coaching Report
Who earned or cost him team the most points or a win based on coaching decisions? Find out here.
Chuck Knox Award (Best Coach) Alex Kincaid #8 in his career
By starting Jacory Croskey-Merritt over Kenneth Gainwell, Alex succeeded on his lone coaching risk and earned a league-high 9.93 points.
Hue Jackson Award (Worst Coach) Will Massimini #10 in his careerâ€
Though he earned 2.72 points by picking up the Packers instead of the Titans as his defensive starter after leaving the draft without a unit, Will cost his team 22.87 points by starting Drake London over David Montgomery, costing his team a league-high net of 20.15 points.
Managers took a combined 13 coaching risks this week and were successful on 9. The league's net point differential was -3.73
To date in 2026, the AFL has a .692 success rate on 13 total coaching risks with a -3.73 point differential
†Will Massimini is the 7th manager in AFL history to earn 10 or more Hue Jackson Awards (coach tracking began in 2016).
Positional Top 100 Leaderboards
These players posted one of the 100 best performances in AFL history within their position groups.
Positional Top 100 Leaderboards
These players posted one of the 100 best performances in AFL history within their position groups.
Josh Allen, QB William Battle 36.95 Points (#74 all-time)
Derrick Henry, RB William Battle 37.8 Points (## all-time)
Kenneth Walker, RB Stephen April 35.89 Points (#83 all-time)
Evan McPherson, K Evan Ash 20.50 Points (#25 all-time)
Missed Opportunities
Players riding their managers' benches who would have been key contributors, and matchups with the losing manager's optimal score was higher than their opponent's real score.
Missed Opportunities
Players riding their managers' benches who would have been key contributors, and matchups with the losing manager's optimal score was higher than their opponent's real score.
Brandon Saunders left the #1 QB performance of the week on his bench
Caleb Williams, 39.51 Points
Williams would have: been Brandon's top scorer, won the Alvin Kamara Player of the Week Award, and ranked #40 among all-time single game QB performances
Anthony Battle left the #5 QB performance of the week on his bench
Trevor Lawrence, 27.33 Points
Anthony had the real QB4 (Jaxson Dart) in his lineup
William Kellogg left the #2 WR performance of the week on his bench
Jalen Coker, 29.70 Points
Coker would have been William's top scorer
Alex Kincaid left the #1 TE performance of the week on his bench
Isaiah Likely, 23.70 Points
Likely would have ranked #77 among all-time single game TE performances
Will Massimini left the #6 RB performance of the week on his bench
David Montgomery, 27.35 Points
Montgomery would have been Will's top scorer
William Kellogg scored 80.20 points in his loss to Alex Kincaid
His optimal score of 133.32 was higher than Alex's total of 115.74 points
Eric Meyer scored 108.49 points in his loss to Evan Ash
His optimal score of 117.24 was higher than Evan's total of 117.09 points
Top 100 Team Scores
These managers' earned one of the 100 highest team scores in AFL history.
Top 100 Team Scores
These managers' earned one of the 100 highest team scores in AFL history.
Stephen April 157.33 Points (#59 all-time)
Weekly League-wide Point Total
How high- or low-scoring was this week in the context of AFL history?
Weekly League-wide Point Total
How high- or low-scoring was this week in the context of AFL history?
The AFL scored 1,352.59 points in Week 1
This ranked #63 in league history out of 186 regular season weeks
Scoring Anomalies
Did the second-highest scoring team lose? Or the second-lowest scoring team win? These sorts of anomalies and more are included here.
Scoring Anomalies
Did the second-highest scoring team lose? Or the second-lowest scoring team win? These sorts of anomalies and more are included here.
For the #13th time in AFL history, the top six scoring teams all won their games.
This has not happened twice in the same season since Weeks 12 & 13 in 2021.
This has happened three times in Week 1 (2013 & 2018); we did not get a second occurance in either of those two previous seasons.
Anthony Battle's league-leading active streak of 100-point games extended to 8 games dating back to Week 9 of last season.
William Battle & Alex Mayo trail four games behind.
There is no current 100-point drought longer than 1 game.
Of the four managers who fell below 100 points in Week 1, only three were active last season and all three ended the 2025 season with 100+ points in their final game.
Historical Playoff Probabilities
Playoff probabilities for managers, by record, based on data from the AFL's first 13 completed seasons. See the power ranking chart for contextualized playoff probabilities, powered by PlayoffComputer.
Historical Playoff Probabilities
Playoff probabilities for managers, by record, based on data from the AFL's first 13 completed seasons. See the power ranking chart for contextualized playoff probabilities, powered by PlayoffComputer.
1-0: Stephen April, Evan Ash, William Battle, Alex Kincaid, Alex Mayo, & Brandon Saunders
Of 52 playoff teams in AFL history, 33 (63.5%) began the season 1-0.
Beginning the season 1-0 gives a manager a 21.2% chance of making the postseason.
Of 13 Sabol Bowl champions in AFL history, 10 (76.9%) began their title campaign 1-0.
Beginning the season 1-0 gives a manager a 6.4% chance of winning the Sabol Bowl.
0-1: Anthony Battle, William Kellogg, Sean Kennedy, Eric Meyer, Will Massimini, Cory Puffett
Of 52 playoff teams in AFL history, 19 (36.5%) began the season 0-1.
Beginning the season 0-1 gives a manager a 12.2% chance of making the postseason.
Of 13 Sabol Bowl champions in AFL history, 3 (23.1%) began their title campaign 0-1.
Beginning the season 0-1 gives a manager a 1.9% chance of winning the Sabol Bowl.
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