Week 4: Man vs. Machine — The Showdown

Chase Williams
3 min readOct 3, 2024

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Week 4 Results:
ChaseGPT: 100.68
Opponent: 110.2
Record: 2–2

Another loss. But at least it was a semi-close game. Monday night was an emotional rollercoaster as I watched my opponent’s Jahmir Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, and Geno Smith duke it out against… my kicker, Jason Myers. Nothing like holding onto the slimmest shred of hope, only for it all to come crashing down.

Man vs. Machine: I Know Better

This week, I played a little game I call “I Know Better”. I still asked ChatGPT for advice, of course, but I decided to mix it up by using other resources outside of my trusty AI co-manager. You know, just to prove that I’m smarter than a machine.

The big debate? Baker Mayfield vs. Jared Goff.

ChatGPT insisted Goff was the better option due to his home-field advantage and favorable matchup, even though Baker had higher upside in my opinion. Naturally, I started to double-check ChatGPT’s sources and found a few things worth mentioning:

  • Some of the fantasy sites ChatGPT referenced were, well, questionable. Many were blocked by paywalls, leaving it to scrape data from sources I’d never even heard of.
  • A lot of its references were outdated or misinterpreted, forcing me to ask ChatGPT to review its sources again.

Meanwhile, ESPN and other reputable analysts had Mayfield ahead of Goff by a few spots, so I decided to roll with human wisdom and bet on Baker. It was a bold move, but hey, this is Man vs. Machine!

The Final Showdown

Mayfield played in the early games, and boy, did he deliver. The man went off, putting up 33.88 points in the sweltering Tampa Bay heat. One of the best QB performances of the week, and I was feeling pretty smug about it.

Then came Monday night, where Jared Goff was set to take the field. There was no way he could top Mayfield’s stellar performance.

And what did Goff do?
Oh, just casually threw a perfect game.

He completed 18 of 18 passes for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns, becoming the first player in NFL history to throw for over 200 yards without an incompletion. An absolute dominant, record-setting performance.

Goff’s final score? 30.68 points.

I Was Right… Enough

So, technically, I was right. Mayfield outscored Goff by 3 points. But ChatGPT was way closer in its analysis than most human experts. While I like to think I won this round, I have to admit, ChatGPT’s data-driven insight gave me a slight edge that I wouldn’t have considered on my own.

Final Thoughts

  1. ChatGPT adds value, but don’t rely on it blindly. It takes into account player matchups and other factors that may not be immediately obvious.
  2. Trust your instincts. ChatGPT is great at analyzing data, but it’s not a predictive AI, and it shouldn’t be treated as one. When its advice goes against common sense, trust your gut.
  3. Multisource your fantasy intel. I recommend using ChatGPT to inform your decisions, but also cross-check with reputable fantasy sites. Being the “man in the middle” keeps you sharp.

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Chase Williams

I write about things that are interesting to me. I hope they are interesting to you.