Welcome to Season VIII of The Lombardi Three and the centennial season of the National Football League. Celebrating its 100th year, the NFL will honor the origins of the league throughout the year having scheduled a game each week to pay homage to landmark moments in NFL history, including ten previous Super Bowl matchups. The Green Bay Packers will play in three of these significant games.
| Week | Opponents | Significance |
|
1 |
Packers vs. Bears | League’s longest running rivalry |
|
2 |
Browns vs. Jets | First Monday Night Football contest |
|
3 |
Dolphins vs. Cowboys | Super Bowl VI |
|
4 |
Chargers vs. Dolphins | Epic in Miami |
|
5 |
Bills vs. Titans | Music City Miracle |
|
6 |
Giants vs. Patriots | Super Bowls XLII (David Tyree’s helmet catch spoils the perfect regular season) and XLVI |
|
7 |
Raiders vs. Packers | Super Bowl II |
|
8 |
Packers vs. Chiefs | Super Bowl I |
|
9 |
Vikings vs. Chiefs | Super Bowl IV |
|
10 |
Falcons vs. Saints | Rivalry game, Saints’ return to New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina |
|
11 |
Patriots vs. Eagles | Super Bowls XXXIX and LII (Philly Special) |
|
12 |
Raiders vs. Jets | Heidi Game |
|
13 |
49ers vs. Ravens | Super Bowl XLVII (The Harbaugh Bowl) |
|
14 |
Bengals vs. Browns | Battle of Ohio (state where NFL was founded), both teams founded by Paul Brown |
|
15 |
Colts vs. Saints | Super Bowl XLIV |
|
16 |
Raiders vs. Chargers | Rivalry game, Holy Roller play |
Just think, 92 years from now, someone is going to be compiling a list just like this one for The Lombardi Three. Where will you stack up when that time comes?
ORGANIZATION
Keepin’ it 100, this is the first season we (likely) return 100% ownership. I have no plans to reorganize. But this wouldn’t be The Lombardi Three without a little random distortion. As I previewed in the final post last season, we are playing 2019 under a Points Table format. We are also temporarily relocating our operation back to NFL.com to account for this new construct. All but one of you have been to our offshore site so this shouldn’t be a huge shift in process. Re-download the prerequisite apps and conjugate whatever machine intelligence platform you need to make the weekly sausage. We’re 21st century fantasy footballers – let’s act like it.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
We are playing a 12-week regular season this year under the Points Table format. Regular season and playoff standings will be determined by your head-to-head record had you played each team in the league, each week. For example, if you score the most points in the league in Week 1, your Week 1 record would be 11-0, meaning you would have beaten each of the other 11 teams in the league. The next highest scorer would be 10-1, and so on. After 12 weeks, the total of each weekly record determines your playoff standings.
Playoff competition returns to the standard head-to-head format. This is key to understand. We will all be competing in a 12-team playoffs over four weeks (Weeks 13-16) with the top four teams on BYE in Week 13. So no matter how your season ends up under this Points Table format, you still have a shot at the title.
BENCH SWAPS
We are on an operational pause with Bench Swaps this season. This clears an administrative burden off our plate. Plus, the Bench Swap has limited value under this season’s Points Table format, as it only represents a one-time boost in your weekly Total Points.
DRAFT
This year’s draft will be conducted on a weeknight, tentatively scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, September 3rd. The Draft Center page has been updated to reflect the results of last season. Any one of you in the guaranteed spots #2 through #6 that wish to withdraw from your locked spot and put your name in the hat for the #1 pick lottery, let me know. The #1 draft pick lottery will be held the evening of Wednesday, August 21st.
Per the Constitution, any team that hasn’t paid their dues by then will be ejected from any fixed draft position and will not be allowed to participate in the draft lottery for first overall pick. Said derelict(s) will be repositioned at the bottom of the draft lineup. I’m actually gonna enforce it this year just for fun!
LEAGUE DUES
Pay your dues. See the updated League Dues page for details and a public snapshot of your TL3 credit report. As a reminder, when playing under the Points Table format this season, the $/win payout is removed from the Available Winnings, and the payout for Regular Season Highest True Coach Ranking is replaced with Regular Season 3rd Place Bonus.
LEAGUE HISTORY
The League History page has been updated to include the results of our 2018 season. Organized by win percentage, Davante’s Inferno has creeped ahead of last season’s leader, Trouble Hunter, by two-hundredths of a percentage point to claim the winningest program at 73-40.
CLOSING
Wrapping things up, shoot me a text or an email to let me know you are (a) alive, (b) conscious of what we are doing this season, and (c) plan on playing.
The Lombardi Three 