Week #1

Weekly write-up (mostly) provided by AI agent for the first time!


The 2026 PQBFL season is underway!  The first 2026 scoreboard already had a little of everything: a 0.5-point fight at the top, a 39.75-point overall player leader, a 28-point rookie leader, several big bench scores that matter for next week's choices, and one team below 80 points. OldNo7, Bas, and Adm start in the blue, while Wax and Ball have the clearest reasons to expect a very different Week 2. With 11 teams now in the league, the middle will be crowded all season, and a single strong or weak lineup decision can move a team several places in one week.

OldNo7 opened 2026 by taking 1st place with 172.25 pts, only 0.5 pts ahead of Bas, so this was not the kind of week where somebody could coast after the early games. The winning starting core did the damage: Caleb Williams scored 38 against an 18.13 projection, while starters Amon-Ra St. Brown (24.25 against 14) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (22 against 13.58) gave Old exactly the kind of WR production that can carry a team through a thin week elsewhere. The starting RBs were also a clear positive, not a concern: Javonte Williams and Chase Brown combined for 30.75 pts versus a 23.9 combined projection. Backup rookie Josiah Trotter led all PQBFL rookies with 28 pts but he was on the bench, nonetheless it gives Old a very nice alternative going forward. A 1st-place finish with 172.25 is an excellent opening statement for a roster that has plenty of high-end pieces.

The GloriousBastards finished a razor-thin 2nd with 171.75 pts and will feel like they were one ordinary Ja'Marr Chase game away from winning the week. Chase was a starter and put up only 2.5 pts against a 16.6 projection, but starting RBs Derrick Henry (33.25 versus 13.5 projected) and Bijan Robinson (22.75 versus 15.7) were more than good enough to keep Bas in the blue. Another decision which could have made the difference was benching I Likely (21.25 pts) and starting LaPorta who only scored 7.25 pts.  According to projections the TE choice was a coin flip. The rookie position was also a problem when the coach gave the nod to CJ Allen but he did not even get a snap despite being in uniform so the starter defaulted to Mike Washington with 4 pts who will not get out of Jeanty's shadow unless an injury hits.  So bottom line it is hard to complain about a 171.75-point opening, but Bas will feel that they should have come out on top of Old.

The Admirals took 3rd place with 155 pts behind the biggest starting score in the PQBFL: Josh Allen's 39.75, a huge 22.15 above his 17.6 projection. Allen did not have to carry everything himself because starting RBs Jahmyr Gibbs put up 25.5 pts, even more than his already bloated projection of 18.4, and Breece Hall added 16.75. Adm also had surprisingly productive backups on the bench for depth later in the season for example Parker Washington had 16, Pat Freiermuth scored 12.25, and Josh Hines-Allen led all DLs at 15.5. The Admirals also finished the week with zero injury points, the only team to do so. That is a very clean start and gives Adm some early flexibility if the offensive depth can improve behind Allen and Gibbs.

FlyingElvis came in 4th with 147 pts and had enough elite production in the starting lineup to make the result look sturdier than the total. Starting RB Ashton Jeanty scored 26.5 against an 8.9 projection which was low due to injury concerns but those concerns were quickly put to bed.  Starting WR Chris Olave piled up 10 catches and 182 yards for 19 pts, and T.J. Watt's 25 pts including a TD was the top defensive score of the year, all PQBFL teams combined. The most eye-catching production outside the starting lineup was backup TE Dallas Goedert, who led all TEs with 21.75, but the coach started Mark Andrews who was limited to 6.25 pts so that hurt.  The even bigger Week 1 problem was at starting QB, where Drake Maye scored only 5.5 pts and it's not looking up now that his top WR AJ Brown is out for multiple weeks.

The Decepticons finished 5th at 144 pts and had one of the more interesting QB combinations of the week. Starter Patrick Mahomes scored 24.75 pts against 16.2 projected so that alone was enough to leapfrog Beaud on MNF, but backup Bryce Young actually led the team with 32.75 pts from the bench. Starting RB Jonathan Taylor had 19 pts which is common for him as a franchise player, but the bigger outperformer was Zay Flowers who scored 20.5 against a projection of 10.2.  Almost as good was Trey McBride with 18.75 against a projection of 11.8. Behind Zay Flowers, the other starting WR was a large miss in Drake London, whose 3.75 pts was peanuts, while backups on the bench Marvin Harrison Jr. (2.5) and Davante Adams (4.25) would not have improved the total anyway. Dec led the league in coaching efficiency at 82.6%, narrowly ahead of Old, which says the Week 1 lineup was efficient despite Young's bench explosion.

The BeaudoinBrothers landed in 6th place with 142.5 pts despite a massive difference between the starting lineup and the bench. Except for starting RB D'Andre Swift who scored a massive 30.25, but the starting QB Matthew Stafford, managed only 2 pts leaving Trevor Lawrence's 33.25 on the bench.  Also on the bench were David Montgomery's 23.75, and Chuba Hubbard's 18.5 pts. Franchise player Brock Bowers also got injured before the season even began and backup Kelce did not carry the load on MNF with 6.5 pts which fell short and lost one rank against Dec in a close call by 1.5 pt. Beaud led the league with 51 injury points, while the strength of starters number was 200.5, third best in the league. There is plenty of talent here, but Week 2 needs to turn more of it into starting points.

BetterBallers finished 7th with 140.25 pts and had one of the best defensive showings of the week. Starting Steelers defense led all team defenses with 20 pts, and starting LB Ventrell Miller had 18. The defense even had major production on the bench, with Greg Rousseau scoring 22.5 and Quentin Lake leading all DBs at 18. Those backups make the Week 2 defensive choice worth a close look. On offense, starters Lamar Jackson (24) and Nico Collins (17) led the way, while starting RBs James Cook (5.25) and MarShawn Lloyd (3.5) were quiet otherwise Bett could have easily finished 3 spots higher in 4th place because Bett only finished 6.75 pts behind FE. But starting different RBs would not have changed the story because RJ Harvey only scored 4 pts on the bench. Bett's 45 injury points were the third most in the league, but the defensive depth makes the 7th-place finish less bleak than it first appears.  It was all things considered a fairly decent start for the expansion team which showed glimpse of previous experience from the short-lived 2019 presence of the franchise in the PQBFL under a different name.

ProfessorMJ opened in 8th with 122.5 pts, but the results draw a sharp line between the starter decisions and the bench. Starting RB Ken Walker III scored 32 to salvage what could have been a disastrous start by finishing on a positive note on MNF.  However starting WR Jaylen Waddle had only one point in that same game so it put a damper on the comeback. Prof had strength on the bench with backups Christian Watson (26.25), Kyle Monangai (20.25), and Tyler Shough (18.5) posted the type of numbers that could have changed the weekly outcome. Despite drafting with the goal of collecting injury points by intentionally picking injured players (Zach Charbonnet, Ricky Pearsall, and Jayden Higgins), Prof only ranked 8th in injury points this week. Prof's 64.9% coaching efficiency was 10th, so this is a team that has an immediate reason to review the Week 2 lineup rather than simply hope the same starting group rebounds.

FlyEaglesFly took 9th with 110 pts and got one spectacular starter score that was not enough to overcome the rest of the lineup. Jalen Hurts was excellent with 29.5 pts, while starting RBs Christian McCaffrey (8.75) and Saquon Barkley (8) did not provide their usual difference-making totals. The roster did have a huge score from backup Jalen Coker on the bench, who surprisingly led all WRs with 27.75.  Coker was drafted WR6 so he was not expected to sniff the starting lineup but perhaps he will after all. That creates a clear Week 2 question at WR rather than a reason to credit the starting lineup for the score. FEF's 71.0% coaching efficiency was 8th, and the team needs more of its strongest production to be in the counted lineup.  For an expansion team, 9th place out of 11 was not great but not surprisingly bad either.  They just need the star RBs to perform as they are supposed to.

WaxOnWaxOff had the roughest surprise among the established contenders, finishing 10th with 103.25 pts. The starting lineup did have one huge positive: Justin Jefferson scored 26.5 against an 11.9 projection and might have actually benefited from K Murray getting concussed because Jefferson clicked instantly with Wentz. But starter Joe Burrow scored 11.75 against 21.2 projected in a puzzling poor start considering the Bengals scored 33 pts.  But there were other problems. De'Von Achane only scoring 6.5 pts was not what the doctor ordered and might be a season-long problem given that the Dolphins will not be competitive - heck the Raiders was probably one of their easiest matchups.  Even worse was the stunning goose egg from Colston Loveland when the Bears scored 59 pts in that game, what!?  That's not going to exactly change the label of "worst pick" in the draft analysis.  Wowzers for a 3rd round pick.  The Broncos defense was also porous with only 2.5 pts, even kicker Harrison Mevis was pedestrian with only 1 pt. Wax's 69.6% coaching efficiency was 9th, which fits the week in part because Dart and Jordan Love both significantly outscored starter Burrow. It is only Week 1, but this was a very different look from the Wax team that expects to live near the top of the standings.

The Ballers finished last with 79 pts, a number that does not need much explanation. Starting QB Kyler Murray finished at -1.75 being he was quickly knocked out of the game after an INT so that put Ball in the hole from the get-go. The rest of the starting offense did not compensate with underperformance against projections from top to bottom: Omarion Hampton scored 6.25 against a projection of 12.9, Quinshon Judkins 5 against 10.6, Puka Nacua 9.5 against 14.67, and Brian Thomas Jr. 3.5 against 8.2. Only T.J. Hockenson's 12.75 pts did beat his projection.  On defense the star was Aidan Hutchinson 15 pts which was not a surprise. But Hockenson+Hutch's results do not erase the very low offensive floor, but they do show that Ball had some Week 1 help so the result could have been even worse than 79 pts, as hard as it is to believe. The lone hopeful point is that Ball had the lowest coaching-efficiency mark at 58.0%, so Week 2 could be better. 


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