Oklahoma City Lightning Game Note, Week 5

GAME NOTES

Oklahoma City Lightning vs. Orlando Octopi

Week 5 – 2018 Fantasy NFL

Other dates of note:

______________________

9/4/2018 – Fantasy draft

9/6/2018 – Official start of NFL Season

9/12/2018 – Starting RB2 Phillip Lindsay acquired off waivers

9/17/2018 – Lightning wrap up its highest-scoring week of the season (197.52 points)

10/1/2018 – Lightning complete 37-point comeback on Monday night to seal victory

Game Recap:

The Oklahoma City Lightning entered Monday night down 37.02 points to the Memphis Suns but a combined 52.96 points scored by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and running back Phillip Lindsay erased the deficit and propelled the road team to its third-straight victory. Memphis saw dominant performances from wide receivers Cooper Kupp (41.6 points) and DeAndre Hopkins (33.9) as well as running back Tarik Cohen (32.8), but the rest of the team combined for just 55.6 points to let the victory slip away.

Flex quarterback Matthew Stafford led the Lightning with 40.78 points on the weekend behind 307 passing yards and two touchdowns. The matchup marked the third-consecutive week that Mahomes and Stafford combined for 70 or more fantasy points, making them the second-highest scoring teammate duo in the league (trailing only the Omaha Goldenrod’s quarterbacks Phillip Rivers and Andrew Luck).

The ultimate downfall for the Suns was losing starting quarterback Cam Newton, who is averaging 37.15 fantasy points per game this season, to a bye. In his place, Memphis started quarterback Taysom Hill. Hill plays a reserve role for the Saints, and only sees the field for special packages. Hill only posted 5.4 points on the weekend.

With the win, the Lightning moved into a tie for first place in the Section 2 division and third overall. The third-highest scoring team in the league will look to carry on its success into next week’s matchup with the Orlando Octopi, who snapped a two-game losing streak last weekend with a dominant 190.88-point performance.

Match-up Preview

The Oklahoma City Lightning will face the Orlando Octopi for the first time this season on Sunday. As in previous weeks, the Oklahoma City Lightning are projected to win with 122.42 points based on the starting lineup. The Orlando Octopi are expected to finish strong with 109.86 total points for the game.

On Sunday morning at 10 a.m., the matchup will begin with quarterback Matthew Stafford, running backs Phillip Lindsay and Saquon Barkley as well as tight end David Njoku to name a few. The Orlando Octopi also begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday with running backs Dion Lewis and Javorius Allen, wide receiver A.J. Green, tight end Charles Clay and quarterback Andy Dalton on the field.  

Lightning kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn will finish the matchup last on Sunday at 5:20 p.m. to score the necessary last-minute points for the Lightning.

Season Notes

QB Patrick Mahomes is sixth in scoring overall this season, sixth among quarterbacks, with 160.3 points, averaging 40.08 points per game. Mahomes was just named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for the month of September. QB Matthew Stafford is 13th overall in scoring, 12th among quarterbacks, with 131.98 points, averaging 32.99 points per game. The Lightning have the highest-scoring QB duo in the SCOM Fantasy Classic: Mahomes and Stafford, who have combined for 292.28 points, edging out Omaha Goldenrod’s QB duo Phillip Rivers and Andrew Luck’s combined for 289.78 points. The Lightning also have the highest-scoring QB trio, as QB Mitchell Trubisky is 15th in scoring overall this season, 14th among quarterbacks, with 127.5 points on the season, averaging 31.875 points per game. In Week 2, the Lightning duo of Mahomes and Stafford earned the Unreal Combinations trophy from NFL.com Fantasy, for the highest scoring duo of the week, with 96.52 points.

Lightning RB Saquon Barkley is fourth overall in scoring among running backs, with 94.3 total points, averaging 23.58 points per game. The bulk of Barkley’s points have come from receptions, as the SCOM Fantasy Classic awards one point per reception. Barkley has caught the ball 27 times and is second in catches behind only the Louisville Lions’ Alvin Kamara, who has 35.

The Lightning have made the most waiver and free-agent transactions in the league with 11. In comparison, the Austin Rockets have made the second-most with seven. Oklahoma City enters this week ranked sixth in waiver priority

The Oklahoma City Lightning are third in scoring this season, with 652.78 total points, and sit in a tie with the Portland Predators for first place in Division 2, and third overall out of 16 teams. If the season ended today, the Lightning would win Division 2 as they’ve outscored the Predators by 35.86 points. The Lightning have the sixth-fewest points scored against them this season, with 509.74.

The Lightning hold the season record for largest win margin at 97.96 points, which they scored in a 197.52 – 99.56 Week 2 win over the Orlando Sharks. That record was threatened in Week 4 in the Honolulu Hammerheads’ huge 91.88-point win over the San Diego Jack Rabbits, but fell just short.

The Lightning hold the season record for largest comeback headed into Monday night. Down 37.2 points headed into the night, Patrick Mahomes and Phillip Lindsay exploded for a combined 52.96 points to win by 15.94 points.

Only 7.6 points were left on the bench in Week 1, the third-best mark in the league. 18.9 points were left on the bench in Week 2, and 14.2 points were left on the bench in Week 3. In Week 4, the Lightning left 22.6 points on the bench, the most of the season for the Lightning, and on the season the Lightning have only left 63.3 points on the bench, the fourth-fewest points left on the bench thus far this season. In comparison, the last-place St. Louis Archers, 0-4, have left 165.18 points on the bench.