Embedded Files
Written by Cory Puffett
Published October 2, 2026
There was no way I was getting this out before Thursday Night Football this week. Somehow I got more help this year for my broadcasting responsibilities and am still finding myself busier than I've ever been. Still, y'all didn't think I was going to leave you hanging entirely did you?
If you'd like to check out League Legacy's AI-generated recaps of all six games this week, and a preview of Week 4, 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 4 Game of the Week between Sean Kennedy and Will Massimini.
Let's jump into all the good stuff from Week 3!
Game of the Week: William Kellogg (81.01) vs Evan Ash (143.07)
Game of the Week: William Kellogg (81.01) vs Evan Ash (143.07)
All-time H2H: Evan leads series 1-0
For a second week in a row, the game of the week got out of hand early. After a dud from Trey Smack on Thursday night left William behind the 8 ball, things only snowballed for the first-year manager during Sunday’s early window.
After Bijan’s big night, Jahmyr said “hold my beer” and went off for more than 40 points in Evan’s lineup. With strong showings by Tee Higgins, Evan McPherson, and the Bills defense in support, Evan held an 86-18 lead entering the 4pm window.
George Kittle, Davante Adams, and the Raiders defense helped William outscore Evan the rest of the way, but it was far too little as Dak Prescott and Juwan Johnson prevented any hope on William’s part from getting off the ground.
Williams top scorer: George Kittle, TE | 23.70 points
Evan's top scorer: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB | 40.70 points
Stephen April (132.87) vs Alex Kincaid (80.31)
Stephen April (132.87) vs Alex Kincaid (80.31)
All-time H2H: Stephen leads series 8-5
Stephen's top scorer: Kenneth Walker, RB | 21.99 points
Alex's top scorer: Javonte Williams, RB | 19.42 points
Eric Meyer (123.73) vs Sean Kennedy (126.43)
Eric Meyer (123.73) vs Sean Kennedy (126.43)
All-time H2H: Series tied 8-8
Eric's top scorer: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR | 31.58 points
Sean's top scorer: Bijan Robinson, RB | 38.42 points
Will Massimini (115.98) vs Anthony Battle (112.53)
Will Massimini (115.98) vs Anthony Battle (112.53)
All-time H2H: Anthony leads series 12-8
Will's top scorer: Joe Burrow, QB | 24.18 points
Anthony's top scorer: Jaylen Warren, RB | 21.31 points
Alex Mayo (114.19) vs William Battle (98.37)
Alex Mayo (114.19) vs William Battle (98.37)
All-time H2H: Alex leads series 10-1
Alex's top scorer: Brock Purdy, QB | 32.84 points
William's top scorer: Derrick Henry, RB | 23.08 points
Brandon Saunders (101.35) vs Cory Puffett (85.66)
Brandon Saunders (101.35) vs Cory Puffett (85.66)
All-time H2H: Cory leads series 9-8
Brandon's top scorer: Jeremiyah Love, RB | 20.03 points
Cory's top scorer: Lamar Jackson, QB | 22.97 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 – 158.00
Evan Ash – 143.07
YTD Tom Brady Award Winner Record: 1-2
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) Evan Ash #21 in his career (3rd most all-time)
143.07 points Does not rank in Top 100 all-time
$1 - Norm Van Brocklin Award (Top QB) Alex Mayo #12 in his career
Brock Purdy, 32.84 3rd career QB1 week
$1 - Adrian Peterson Award (Top RB) Evan Ash #17 in his career (t-3rd most all-time)
Jahmyr Gibbs, 40.70 5th career RB1 week
$1 - Flipper Anderson Award (Top WR) Eric Meyer* #22 in his career (2nd most all-time)
Jaxon Smith-Njigba*, 31.58 4th career WR1 week
$1 - Shannon Sharpe Award (Top TE) William Kellogg #1 in his career
George Kittle, 23.70 20th career TE1 week
$1 - Scott O'Brien Award (Top K) Alex Kincaid #12 in his career
Chad Ryland, 15.00 1st career K1 week
$1 - Chuck Noll Award (Top DEF) William Kellogg #1 in his career
Las Vegas Raiders, 13.40 1st DEF1 week all-time
Alvin Kamara Award (Top Player) EvanAsh #16 in his career (4th most all-time)
Jahmyr Gibbs, 40.70 2nd career Kamara Award
David Carr Award (Lowest Scorer) Alex Kincaid #10 in his career
11th manager in AFL history to reach double digits
#1 Power Ranking Evan Ash #14 in his career
#12 Power Ranking Anthony Battle #4 in his career
t-3rd fewest among active managers
*Repeat from last week
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
Brandon Saunders 100 career regular season wins
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) Will Massimini #14 in his career (5th most all-time)
Despite only taking one coaching risk, Will earned a league-high 17.85 points and a win by starting Drake London instead of Bucky Irving. This ranks #48 all-time in single-week coaching points.
Hue Jackson Award (Worst Coach) Eric Meyer #10 in his career
With his lone coaching risk Eric cost his team 8.31 points and a win by starting TreVeyon Henderson instead of Mike Evans.
Honorable Mention: Alex Kincaid cost his team a league-high 14.08 points by failing on all three of his coaching risks; he lost 6.76 points by starting Romeo Doubs instead of Tony Pollard, 5.27 points by starting Bryce Young instead of Patrick Mahomes, and another 2.05 points by starting Denzel Boston instead of DK Metcalf.
Managers took a combined 15 coaching risks this week and were successful on 5. The league's net point differential was -17.53
To date in 2026, the AFL has a .500 success rate on 42 total coaching risks with a -68.52 point differential
Manager Luck Report
Who suffered an unlucky loss or earned a lucky win this week? Find out here. (Note: Season-long luck has a new home in the Power Rankings chart)
Manager Luck Report
Who suffered an unlucky loss or earned a lucky win this week? Find out here. (Note: Season-long luck has a new home in the Power Rankings chart)
Lucky Wins
Brandon Saunders 4-7 breakdown (#8 scorer for the week)
Unlucky Losses
Eric Meyer 8-3 breakdown (#4 scorer for the week)
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.
Jahmyr Gibbs, RB Evan Ash 40.70 Points (#30 all-time)
Ranks #2 for Gibbs's career
Bijan Robinson, RB Sean Kennedy 38.42 Points (#53 all-time)
New career high & first Top 100 performance of Robinson's career
George Kittle, TE William Kellogg 23.70 Points (t-#76 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.
Sean had the #4 QB performance of the week on his IR
Sam Darnold, 26.36 Points
Sean placed Darnold on his IR in Week 2, retroactive to Week 1, and so Darnold was not eligible to be removed from IR until Week 4
Brandon Saunders had the #2 TE performance of the week on his IR
Brock Bowers, 23.45 Points
Brandon placed Bowers on his IR in Week 1, and so Bowers was not eligible to be removed from IR until Week 4
Stephen April left the #3 TE performance of the week on his bench
Harold Fannin, 20.15 Points
Stephen started the AFL's TE2, the real TE4, Kenyon Sadiq
Evan Ash left the #1 DEF performance of the week on his bench
Minnesota Vikings, 30.98 Points
Evan also left the Vikings on his bench in Week 2, when they were the real DEF2
Anthony Battle left the #4 DEF performance of the week on his bench
Denver Broncos, 13.73 Points
Eric Meyer scored 123.73 points in his loss to Sean Kennedy
His optimal score of 141.25 was higher than Sean's score of 126.43 points
William Battle scored 98.37 points in his loss to Alex Mayo
His optimal score of 119.80 was higher than Alex's score of 114.19 points
Anthony Battle scored 112.53 points in his loss to Will Massimini
His optimal score of 127.45 was higher than Will's score of 115.98 points
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 1,315.50 points in Week 3
This ranked #87 in league history out of 188 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.
Evan Ash led the league in scoring while playing in the game of the week, making this the 41st time in AFL history a manager has won both awards.
Alex Mayo's league-leading active streak of 100-point games extended to 6
Sean Kennedy's league-leading active drought of 100-point games ended at 2
William Battle and Alex Kincaid take over as the active leaders with their 2nd straight sub-100-point outings.
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.
3-0: Evan Ash & Alex Mayo
Of 52 playoff teams in AFL history, 18 (34.6%) began the season 3-0.
Beginning the season 3-0 gives a manager a 75.0% chance of making the postseason.
Of 13 Sabol Bowl champions in AFL history, 5 (38.5%) began their title campaign 3-0.
Beginning the season 3-0 gives a manager a 20.8% chance of winning the Sabol Bowl.
2-1: Stephen April, Sean Kennedy, Brandon Saunders
Of 52 playoff teams in AFL history, 20 (38.5%) began the season 2-1.
Beginning the season 2-1 gives a manager a 37.7% chance of making the postseason.
Of 13 Sabol Bowl champions in AFL history, 5 (38.5%) began their title campaign 2-1.
Beginning the season 2-1 gives a manager a 9.4% chance of winning the Sabol Bowl.
1-2: William Battle, William Kellogg, Alex Kincaid, Will Massimini, Eric Meyer, Cory Puffett
Of 52 playoff teams in AFL history, 9 (17.3%) began the season 1-2.
Beginning the season 1-2 gives a manager a 16.1% chance of making the postseason.
Of 13 Sabol Bowl champions in AFL history, 2 (15.4%) began their title campaign 1-2.
Beginning the season 1-2 gives a manager a 3.6% chance of winning the Sabol Bowl.
0-3: Anthony Battle
Of 52 playoff teams in AFL history, 5 (9.6%) began the season 0-3.
Beginning the season 0-3 gives a manager a 21.7% chance of making the postseason.
Of 13 Sabol Bowl champions in AFL history, 1 (7.7%) began their title campaign 0-3.
Beginning the season 0-3 gives a manager a 4.3% chance of winning the Sabol Bowl.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse