Week 8 Revenge Games: 7 Players Out to Torch Their Ex-Teams

Oct 29, 2026

USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

It's two days before Halloween, so, of course, my mind is on spooky revenge. I thought about listing some good Halloween revenge movies, but instead found some real-life holiday retaliation stories.

Neighborhoods and HOAs are breeding grounds for Halloween revenge. Here are a few tales.

The Glitter-Bomb Bait for the Decor Thief

A frustrated homeowner dealt with a neighbor named Vanessa who repeatedly stole expensive, elaborate lawn decorations right off her porch. Doorbell cameras caught the neighbor dragging the items to her own lawn, dismissively telling the homeowner that they "looked better at her house anyway". Rather than calling the police immediately, the homeowner purchased one final, enticing piece of decor: an oversized, hollow Halloween chest.

Inside that chest, she rigged an ultra-fine, pressurized industrial glitter-and-dye bomb designed to trigger upon opening. The doorbell camera captured the neighbor sneaking over, stealing the box, and dragging it to her pristine living room. Moments later, a massive scream echoed through the neighborhood. The neighbor opened the box inside her house, coating her entire living room, furniture, and herself in a massive, nearly impossible-to-clean cloud of bright orange glitter and dye. I assume that stopped her thievery.

The HOA Jump-Scare

An aggressive HOA board member (we all know those types) took it upon herself to patrol her neighborhood on Halloween night, recording properties and threatening heavy fines for anyone whose decorations were "excessive" or "lacked committee approval". Knowing her exact route, an annoyed homeowner set up a life-sized mummy "prop" sitting in a lawn chair next to the sidewalk. The prop was actually a real person in a very realistic costume waiting perfectly still.

As this "Karen" marched onto the porch to tape a violation notice to the front door, the "mummy" suddenly sprang to life. "Karen" shrieked, dropped her clipboard, and completely wiped out all over the lawn ornaments she was trying to fine them for. Of course, this was caught on security footage, which quickly circulated through the neighborhood group chat. Karma is a bi-atch, Karen.

Revenge is always on the minds of those done dirty, and not all NFL players who changed teams were necessarily wronged, but we have to assume some sort of vengeance lies within.

I outlined what I found from 11 years of data in the article Revenge Games: 11 Years of Data on Fantasy Breakouts vs. Former Teams, and this weekly article dives into who’s seeking retribution each week.

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Before I get into this week's revengers, let’s look at how Week 7 shook out in half-PPR scoring.

Kenneth Walker: RB38 (7.7)
Devin Singletary: RB22 (13.0)
Brian Robinson Jr.: DNP

Week 8 Revenge Seekers

Geno Smith (NYJ) vs. Raiders

He's played for five different NFL teams in his 14-year career, but Geno Smith was a member of the Raiders just last season. Las Vegas is 24th in QB aFPA through seven contests, so Smith makes for a nice streaming candidate this week as part of that retribution narrative.

T.J. Hockenson (MIN) @ Lions

He's coming off a 4-35-1 line in Week 7, and T.J. Hockenson gets a juicy matchup against the Lions organization that selected him eighth overall in the 2019 draft. His output has taken a dive over the last few years, out of fantasy TE1 territory, but Hockenson is currently TE10 on the season in half-PPR scoring on a per-game basis and could see some extra looks in this retaliation tilt.