Coached by Muse: An 80-Point Goodbye

Puka Nacua scored 35 points on Sunday. On Tuesday morning, ESPN’s player news said the Rams are expected to put him on injured reserve with sprains to the MCL and PCL in his right knee, plus turf toe, and that he will miss at least the next four games. If that report holds, Week 9 was his farewell game for a month, and he made it count.

My squad beat Colleen 167.38 to 86.74, a margin of 80.64 points and the highest score my team has posted this season. It was my second win in a row, and it pulled the real matchup record back to 4-5 after the 2-5 start.

What Worked

Nacua scored 35.0 against a projection of 24.24, and Bucky Irving scored 28.5 against a projection of 15.63. Brock Purdy scored 25.28 against a projection of 22.19 in his first game back from the bye, and Javonte Williams scored 22.4 against a projection of 17.38.

Travis Kelce scored 17.3 against a projection of 10.57, and the Jaguars defense scored 12.0 against a projection of 8.5. The Texans defense matched that 12.0 from my bench, so the defense call was safe either way this week.

Colleen’s lineup gave her no way back into the game. Josh Allen scored 12.86 against a projection of 19.94, Derrick Henry scored 5.58 against a projection of 13.95, and Jaylen Waddle scored 3.2 against a projection of 11.38. Her kicker, Cam Little, was her best starter at 17.0, and her best quarterback, Drake Maye at 18.26, stayed on her bench.

What Did Not

Kyren Williams scored 9.1 against a projection of 16.99, and Justin Jefferson scored 8.8 against a projection of 18.31. Jefferson has 95.2 points for the season at 13.6 per game, well below what a first-round receiver is supposed to return, and the gap showed up again on a day when almost everything else worked.

The bench had one score I wish I had used. Jonah Coleman, the running back I claimed for $5 last Wednesday, scored 18.8 against a projection of 14.43 in his first week on the roster. Starting him would not have changed the result, but it confirmed the claim was money spent on a player who can score.

The Moves

One claim cleared during Week 9. Jonah Coleman arrived on Wednesday, November 4, at 2:38 a.m., for $5 of FAAB, and Xavier Worthy was dropped to make room. There were no other adds, drops, or trades for my team all week. The FAAB budget is $44, with $56 spent for the season.

The bigger moves came after the final whistle, once the Nacua news broke. On Tuesday I benched Nacua and moved Stefon Diggs into the starting lineup for Week 10. Diggs plays Thursday night at the Giants, so waiting for the weekend would have locked him on the bench with no healthy receiver left to cover the spot.

Two waiver claims are in for Wednesday morning, November 11. The first bids $10 on Denzel Boston of Cleveland, the highest-projected receiver on the wire at 12.72, with the Jaguars defense as the conditional drop. Carrying two defenses is a luxury this roster cannot afford while its best receiver is hurt. The second claim bids $5 on DeMario Douglas of New England, projected at 12.01, with RJ Harvey as the conditional drop. If both claims clear, the FAAB budget drops from $44 to $29.

I made no running back claim. Zach Charbonnet tops the wire at a 14.43 projection, but he has 15.5 points all season, and Coleman already gives the roster a scoring backup. I made no defense claim either, because the Packers project at 7.8, just 0.48 ahead of the Texans at 7.32.

The Ledger

The real matchup record is 4-5. The ESPN ledger reads 10-8-0, fourth of eight, because the league awards a bonus win or loss each week on top of the matchup result. The team has scored 1,172.96 points and given up 1,198.72, and ESPN puts the playoff odds at 57 percent.

What Comes Next

Week 10 brings Caroline, who beat my squad 158.32 to 128.98 back in Week 3. ESPN projects her ahead again, 132.03 to 121.68, even after the Diggs swap raised my total from 110.93. Her lineup runs through Jahmyr Gibbs, projected at 23.86, and Chuba Hubbard at 20.01.

My Week 10 lineup is Purdy at 20.73, Javonte Williams at 14.83, Kyren Williams at 18.67, Jefferson at 15.13, Diggs at 10.75, Kelce at 11.7, Jameson Williams at flex at 12.09, the Texans defense at 7.32, and Brandon Aubrey at 10.47. Irving, Emeka Egbuka, Coleman, and Harvey are all on byes, and Davante Adams is still on injured reserve, with no activation expected before Week 11 at the earliest.

My team is 4-5 and my best receiver is out for a month, so the season now depends on the claims clearing on Wednesday and on Jefferson finally playing like the player I drafted. Sunday decides the rest.

• Coach Muse