FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Hello, fantasy veterans and newcomers alike. This is our fifth season, and we've made a few changes. First, we have a live draft currently scheduled for September 4th at 7:00pm EDT. Second, we've lowered the league cap to 16 teams. If you're interested, here are the details:

Link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/first (click the "Sign Up Now" link on the page; if you don't have a Yahoo ID, you can make one from there)
ID#: 26142
Password: deankamen

I've run out of NFL teams to root for, so, GO RED SOX! :D

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Is the draft going to be randomized?

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Yahoo randomizes the draft order about 45 minutes before the draft.
If you don't trust Yahoo, commissioners have the ability to change the draft order up until the start of the draft.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

I know Yahoo randomizes it.

Eddie sent an email out saying that the draft order will be the order in which we signed up for the league--which I think is totally wrong, since he will get LT by default, and nobody else will even have a chance at him.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

From his email:
So it will be random for the live draft.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

nope, he ALWAYS takes peyton manning first.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

As my email said, that's only for autodrafting, to alleviate some of the randomness. But since it's live, there's no need for a non-random draft order, since we'll all be there and be able to see the players we're able to pick. The details are in my commissioner's note.

Anybody want to play over/under on my draft number? :p

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Oh, last person to join! Taravis Jackson going in the first round!

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Me and the rest of Team Jack are planning on winning this league. Your team may have a better name but my team will have better players. :rolleyes:

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

it woulda been nice to still be in the league. but for some odd reason i was booted.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

It's not odd. Here's the reason from Eddie's e-mail:

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

but check the addresses he sent it to. i was not on the email list.

as i told travis this and he then sent it to me.


im just not surprised to be booted for no reason, because it is eddie.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

I may not make it for the 7:00 draft. Any one want to co-manage the team with me this year?

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Would it be all the lovely profanity you used in Eddie's direction in your trash talk bubble.
I wouldn't have wanted you back either.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

So... when's the draft going to be now that it's postponed?

And was the last team to join a real manager, or a placebo?

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

my Placebo team didn't stick so I guess a real manager got in.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

actually no it wasn't. he never sent me the email where i was supposed to email back to make sure i was still alive. how CONVIENENT! also, i contacted indysam to co manage his team with him. i signed up and all then the team was booted. tis' the reason why there is a odd number of teams i the league and no draft...

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Sounds a bit childish... I wouldn't want to even join if I were you. :rolleyes:

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Never got a email, hard to respond. Must be a lot of fear in this league managers heart.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

It looks like Eddie set it up to be an autopick now.

Eddie, I see you've changed the draft from random to ordered. I hope this doesn't mean that you are putting us in the order we signed up.

I think this is totally unfair (as I've said before), and unnecessary. Why does it matter if an autodraft is conducted randomly? At least then everyone has the same shot at getting the top player. I see nothing inherently unfair about having the picks be random in an autodraft. If you set your prerankings up correctly, it shouldn't matter.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

eddie will not be able to get peyton manning first pick, thats the sole purpose of doing it that way.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Sure he will, as everyone else will pick RB's.

I don't see why someone who happened to be lurking on delphi at the time eddie announced the league should get priority in the draft. What's up with that?

Seems I'm the only one complaining (and I would be regardless of if I was #2 or #16). Surely someone else in this league takes offense as well?

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Aside from all the childish namecalling and nonsense, I'm confused. I thought the league was to draft this evening. Definitively, when is the draft? Last I heard from the Commish, it was to be live. Is that still the case?

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Right before draft time, one of the teams was dropped/deleted. Yahoo doesn't allow drafts for leagues with an odd amount of teams. The only possible live-draft times to change to were tomorrow morning or next week. After a lengthy AIM discussion, the consensus was to change the league to an auto-pick draft starting at midnight tonight.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

So why was my team deleted?


Could you not add another team?

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

I think it was deleted because i was your co manager. im sorry if that had anything to do with it.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

1. I don't know why your team was deleted, you'd have to ask Eddie. We can only speculate...

2. Eddie couldn't find a replacement in time for the draft, so Yahoo automatically changed the draft to an auto-pick draft. Which lead to the situation I described above in my last post.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Cory:

Eddie's league scoring favors Manning - he was #2 behind Tomlinson. I'm not sure what the deal is, but if Eddie is set up to get the #1 pick because he signed up first, that is heinously bogus. If that occurs, I will enter what I like to call "League Destruction Mode". It's not pretty. But let's see what actually happens first, shall we?

In the meantime, in the interest of blowing up everyone's predraft rankings, here's my list, based upon 2006 stats being plugged into this year's league scoring system. It isn't perfectly in line with Yahoo, but close:

(If you haven't figured it out by now, yes, I know we can't count on a lot of these people/teams repeating their 2006 performances, and no, I don't care about winning this league - let its secrets be divulged!!! The list is more useful as an instrument to demonstrate how the scoring system slots everyone.)

1. LaDainian Tomlinson
2. Peyton Manning
3. Steven Jackson
4. Maurice Jones-Drew
5. Baltimore
6. Chicago
7. Drew Brees
8. Marc Bulger
9. Willie Parker
10. Brian Westbrook
11. Carson Palmer
12. Frank Gore
13. Terrell Owens
14. DeMeco Ryans
15. Tom Brady
16. New England
17. Marvin Harrison
18. Donovan McNabb
19. Philip Rivers
20. Shaun Alexander
21. Rudi Johnson
22. Lance Briggs
23. Chris Carr
24. Justin Miller
25. Champ Bailey
26. London Fletcher
27. Terrence McGee
28. Antonio Pierce
29. Adrian Wilson
30. Kirk Morrison
31. Marion Barber III
32. Reggie Wayne
33. Vince Young
34. Donnie Edwards
35. Chris Hope
36. Keith Bulluck
37. San Diego
38. Minnesota
39. Miami
40. Deuce McAllister
41. Jon Kitna
42. Eli Manning
43. Joseph Addai
44. Steve Smith
45. Richard Marshall
46. Will Witherspoon
47. Zach Thomas
48. Tony Romo
49. Donald Driver
50. Javon Walker
51. Reggie Bush
52. Laurence Maroney
53. Edgerrin James
54. Darrell Jackson
55. Lee Evans
56. Plaxico Burress
57. T.J. Houshmandzadeh
58. Wes Welker
59. Green Bay
60. Philadelphia
61. Buffalo
62. Chad Johnson
63. Brett Favre
64. Ben Roethlisberger
65. Jamal Lewis
66. Roy Williams
67. Arizona
68. Denver
69. Seattle
70. Jacksonville
71. Pittsburgh
72. Marques Colston
73. Ahman Green
74. Joey Galloway
75. Antonio Gates
76. Devin Hester
77. Joshua Cribbs
78. Ladell Betts
79. Laveranues Coles
80. J.P. Losman
81. Reggie Brown
82. Andre Johnson
83. Terry Glenn
84. Anquan Boldin
85. Matt Hasselbeck
86. Willis McGahee
87. Larry Fitzgerald
88. Torry Holt
89. Jermaine Phillips
90. Kerry Rhodes
91. B.J. Sams
92. Ronde Barber
93. Asante Samuel
94. Charles Woodson
95. Walt Harris
96. Brian Urlacher
97. A.J. Hawk
98. Antoine Winfield
99. Adalius Thomas
100. Bart Scott
101. Lofa Tatupu
102. Keith Brooking
103. Jason Taylor
104. DeMarcus Ware
105. Sean Jones
106. Chris Draft
107. James Farrior

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

No need to wait and see what happens.

Check out the "draft" tab. Then click "draft results". You can see the order in which we will be picking. It is indeed ordered based on order joined.

Why is it that every year there has to be some problem with this league? If you just let common consensus dictate the way the league is run, when multiple people take issue with your decisions, everyone would be much happier. This year was a step forward, with the live draft (though now it won't be happening), and the concession on lower trade time.

P.S. Who was involved in this discussion to switch to an autodraft? Why wasn't it posted in this thread, or on the league home page that such a discussion was occurring? Not everyone can be on AIM all day to know these things.

[edit] I just visited the league home page. I take back the nice things I said about you making concessions this year, Eddie. You just changed it to commish veto, and 7 day waiting period on trades. Way to let us all know first. I'm with Travis. This IS bogus.
-Cory

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

11 outof the 16 were online during the discussion. There's no malfeasance going on regarding the autopick. A majority vote for autopick was made.

When was this 7 day trade thing instituted, Eddie? It was 3 days, last time I checked, earlier today. Without any justification, this smells rather blah. 3 days was the previous arrangement.

It appears after a bit of passive resistance that the autodraft is now randomized. This should not affect anyone's predraft rankings content one bit, while ensuring everyone had a fair shot to receive one of the top draft picks.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

I'm with Travis.

I'm out if you don't randomize the draft.

I have so many other problems with this league (scoring, commisioner decisions, etc) that I'm not even going to bother going into them. But the ordered draft is over the top for me.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

The draft appears to be randomized now. I hate to back out this late but with class work and practice tomorrow I am going to have no time to get any sort of roster set up.

In the future a draft day needs to be set up and finalized much earlier than this, if there are an odd number of teams the last one to join should be dropped.

That being said I am going to have to drop this league, my FF season is already messed up enough with the time of the draft changing in the other league and quite frankly I don't want to have 2 leagues that I start off in a hole in.

Good luck all

James

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Your roster is very unlikely to be affected by tomorrows game......however, if it is, you can tell Eddie and he can change it himself. Then you have until Sunday to do it.

Please dont drop now. Then Autopick will be shut off, we have to turn it back on, and wait at the beginning of the line for it to draft for us. Your roster will be fine.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

I think his point is that since it was supposed to be a live draft he didn't prerank any players, in which case his roster won't be fine.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

The FIRST Robotics League

Koko's X-Cats
Dunedain
The Stud Man Clan
Nor Cal Crushers
XualZans
FIRST Force
Youngstown Hitmen
Stevies Scapegoats
Indiana Ironmen
Isotopes
Rhode Island Dynamic
What Am I Doing Here?
Silver Lobos
Team Jack


XualZans vs. Koko's X-Cats
The X-Cats are relying on Travis henry to run wild on a weak Bills run defense and a tough defense. XualZans need to upgrade their defense alot or thye need their three back attack of Frank Gore, Jamal Lewis and Cedric Benson to play big and get good production from Tony Romo.

What Am I Doing Here? vs. Rhode Island Dynamic
Say What? An Eddie McD team without Peyton Manning? What's going on? Drew Brees is a decent replacement. First of all, Eddie needs another defensive player onn board. They do have a nice set of running backs in Willis McGahee, Marion Barber III and Duece McCalister but WAIDH has three backs too and one of them is LaDainian Thomlinson! (the other two are Edgerrin James and Clinton Portis)

Silver Lobos vs. Team Jack
Ah! There's Manning! The Lobos have him. And boy do they need him with only Adrian Peterson as thier only back. Team Jack has three backs in Carnell Williams, Maurice Jones-Drew and Rudi Johnson but they badly need to upgrade their defense!

Youngstown Hitmen vs. Indiana Ironmen
Both teams are going with one back (Jerious Norwood vs. Fred Taylor) and badly need to fix their defenses as well. The quarterback matchup may decide this one. I'm givng the nod to the Hitmen's Marc Bulger over the Ironmen's Matt Leinart.

Dunedain vs. Nor Cal Crushers
The Crushers are the Crushers. They have Stepehen Jackson and Brain Westbrook and they could be all they need to take Dunedain's combo of Brandon Jacobs and Joseph Addia. Dunedain needs Matt Hasselback to take Eli Manning.

Stevies Scapegoatsvs. FIRST Force
The Capegoats need to fix their D in order to hope to compete with FIRST Force who has Carson Palmer, Willie Parker and Ahman Green. The Scapegoats will rely on Larry Johnson and Thomas Jones. I don't know how much they can expect from Jon Kitna.


The Stud Man Clan vs. Isotopes

Again. Both teams need to fix their D. The Isotopes have a couple of explosive backs in Reggie Bush and Laurence Maroney. The Clan feature rocksteady Shaun Alexnader and Ronnie Brown. They need a career game from Jay Cutler to take the Isotopes Donovan McNabb.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

My team, The XaulZans, hopefully will have a new look shortly. If all the trades and waivers go through, I will have 5 new starters and improved depth.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Hats off to the Silver Lobos, they laid the beat down on me. Oh well there is always next week.

Also I am looking for an upgrade at WR, and I am looking to make a trade, everyone except for Brady is available. PM me or contact me on Yahoo.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

I'm also looking for an upgrade at WR. If you need depth at RB (F. Taylor, C. Taylor, C. Brown, J. Lewis) or TE (T. Heap, J Witten), let me know.

Week I Postgame Analysis
 

This review brought to you by the Belichick School of Sign Stealing.

What Am I Doing Here d. Rhode Island Drive
82-59
What am I doing here? Good question. It’s the first game of the year, and this one was over on Thursday when the Drive’s Brees and McAllister failed to score positive points. WAIDH only added injury to insult with a combined 51 from Tomlinson, Burress, James, and Portis (heck, over half of that was Burress himself; WAIDH better pray Eli isn’t hurt too much). To Rhode Island’s credit, they played pretty well on defense, netting 41 points. But that only made their inevitable loss look slightly better.

The XaulZans d. Koko's X-Cats
76-72
When LT does a better job passing than his QB (in this case, Phillip Rivers), you know whoever owns said quarterback is in a tough spot. Especially when owner of said quarterback’s opponent has Tony Romo’s surprising 27 points. The Zans also had Antonio Gates with 12 (ironically, receiving that pass from LT), Antoine Winfield’s 16, and 9 from Frank Gore. The X-Cats easily won the defensive battle; the Chargers play into this game once more giving the Cats 14, and Ed Reed’s 14 points on Monday Night Football actually put them over the top briefly, but their offense was merely average and Phillip Rivers actually subtracted points, most likely being the difference maker in this game.

Indiana Ironmen d. Youngstown Hitmen
82-53
Here we have an exciting battle between two fleets of receivers. The Ironmen won that with Chad and Calvin Johnson, plus Steve Smith’s combined 32 points, compared to the Hitmen’s fleet only scoring 27. You can add Vinatieri’s 11 and Chicago’s 10 to the Hitmen’s score, and you wouldn’t end up very far from their final score. The Ironmen had nine of their ten players score at least 7 points, and you know how I’m a sucker for teamwork like that. In fact, at the bare minimum of that, the Ironmen have already won by 10. Go, Ironmen!

Nor Cal Crushers d. Dunedain
70-60
Yay, Dunedain’s back! And so are the Crushers! Which is unfortunate for Dunedain, because Nor Cal was living up to their name early. Eli Manning had a spectacular game, scoring 21 before he got hurt. The rest of their offense was underwhelming, but not outright terrible. Luckily, the defense was there to pick up the slack. Led by Pittsburgh’s 17, they combined for 33. Dunedain put up a heck of a fight themselves, but while their offense all put up decent numbers, their only big score was Addai’s 13. It was the same with the Dunedain D, with decent numbers, but only Seattle’s 12 being notable. And decent isn’t good enough against the Crushers.

Silver Lobos d. Team Jack
102-58
Geez, it’s Week I, and we already have a triple-digit score. “Ah! There's Manning! The Lobos have him.” The flip side of Rhode Island’s suffering was the Lobo’s gain: 18 points. “And boy do they need him with only Adrian Peterson as their only back.” You know what? If I was writing the pregame analysis, I’d say the same thing. Who could’ve seen Peterson busting out for 16 in his first game? And their receivers tacked on an additional 36! Tom Brady and his Sign Stealing Corps scored 18 points for Jack, but they got jack from everyone else, with no more offensive scores above 5, and a defense that stayed below double-digits. It would’ve taken a miracle to overcome an additional 46 points anyway.

Isotopes d. The Stud Man Clan
54-47
The Clan should’ve won. Really. The top of their scorecard looks great with Cutler’s 9, Alexander’s 12, and Moss’s 16. The bottom: not so much. It’s a combined 0 for the Clan’s defense. Now look at the Isotopes’ defense. That’s 27 unanswered points right there. The offense just had to not be terrible to secure a win. While I would’ve expected more from the Isotopes’ offense, it didn’t bomb, and even if their offensive high score was Boldin’s 7, it still scored enough to knock out the Clan.

FIRST Force d. Stevies Scapegoats
83-64
The Scapegoats had one score in double digits. One. And it was a surprising one at that (Kitna with 15). FIRST Force had five players in double digits. Five. Do the math. Palmer (11), Coles (14), Baltimore (10), McGee (11), & Edwards (10) were the five players. Alone, it wasn’t quite enough for victory; I will give the Scapegoats credit for putting up mostly consistent scores. But so did the Force, making this an easy victory.

Well, after that draft fiasco, we're finally playing. Now if only the Ravens would use that running back they payed $40 million for...

See y'all next week. :)

Re: Week I Postgame Analysis
 

The FIRST Robotics League


Youngstown Hitmen(0-1)vs. Koko's X-Cats(0-1)
The X-Cats could be in trouble unless Phillip Rivers starts performing better because both Marshawn Lynch and Travis Henry could be slowed down by tough defenses. The Hitmen could get some good points from Jake Delhome but relying on Lamont Jordan and Derrick Ward for points from the running game could prove to be thier downfall unless Terell Owens and Marvin Harrison have big weeks again.

Indiana Ironmen(1-0)[b] vs. Rhode Island Drive(0-1)
The Ironmen are going with a backup running back in their starting position with Jerious Norwood and therefore have to rely on Marc Bulger, Steve Smith, Chad Johnson and rookie Calvin Johnson to win for them. The Drive are going with a totally oposite approach with a three back approach with Duece McAllister, Willis McGahee and Marion Barber III. Drew Brees needs to pick up his game to make it happen for the Drive.

What Am I Doing Here (1-0) vs. FIRST Force(1-0)
FIRST Force may have the advantage at quarterback with Carson Palmer taking advantage of the pathetic Browns while vince Young has to move the ball against the defending Super Bowl Champs. But with their three back attack with LaDanina Thimlinson, Clinton Portis and Edgerin James WAIDH may have the advantage over FIRST Force's combo of Willie Parker (look out he could have an insane day against the ruined Bills defense) and Ahman Green.


Nor Cal Crushers(1-0) vs. The XaulZans (1-0)
The XaulZans may have the advantage with Tony Romo over J.P. Losman but the Crushers have Stephen Jackson and Brian Westbrook to the Xaul Zans Frank Gore, Rudi Johnson and Fred Taylor. The defenses particalrly bear watching with each facing demoralized oppenents ( the Crushers have the Steelrs feasting on the reeling Bills and the XaulZans have the Jaguars facing the stunned Falcons).


Silver Lobos(1-0) vs. Dunedain(0-1)
Both teams are going with a singleback look with Adrain peterson vs. Joseph Addia respectively. The Lobos also have Peyton Manning and that's a big advantage to carry into battle with you.

Isotopes(1-0)[b] vs. Team Jack(0-1)
The Isotopes need better games from McNabb, Reggie Bush and Laurence Maroneyto step their game up from last week. Team Jack asks the same of Cedric Benson and Maurice Jones-Drew but not Tom Brady who is always big time!

The Stud Man Clan(0-1) vs. [color=fuchsia]Stevies Scapegoats[(0-1)/COLOR]
The Scapegoats may have to find a way to win without Larry Johnson who will find the Bears stacking the box against him the same way they did against LT last week. Their savior is Jon Kitna? The Scapegoats have Jay Cutler who was good against Buffalo (though he made some really Plummer-esque plays as well. So long as Shaun Alexander is on your side things are good.

Week II Postgame Analysis
 

87 points, and I still get clobbered. Now I know how Carson Palmer feels...

Indiana Ironmen (1-0) d. Rhode Island Drive (0-1)
122-87
Rhode Island had a pretty big turnaround from last week. This review isn't about them. What this review will focus on is our second triple-digit score in as many weeks. The Ironmen's troika of receivers combined for 6 TDs. That's right, a combined 60 fantasy points came from Steve Smith, Chad Johnson, and Calvin Johnson. Now, to the Drive's credit, that alone wasn't nearly enough to win. That's where Indiana's defensive unit came in. The New England DEF, Lance Briggs, and Antonio Pierce added another 39 points. And as if they weren't piling on enough, they also made sure that all but one of their players cleared the five-point marker. I mean, 87 is a very good score, and Indiana completely clobbered it. Go Ironmen!

Youngstown Hitmen (0-1) d. Koko's X-Cats (0-1)
74-40
"The X-Cats could be in trouble unless Phillip Rivers starts performing better, because both Marshawn Lynch and Travis Henry could be slowed down by tough defenses." And that's it in a nutshell, folks. Phillip Rivers certainly isn't throwing like he did last season, and Lynch and Henry combining for only 11 did absolutely nothing to help matters. And even worse was the X-Cats' (lack of) defense. The Hitmen actually played on par with the X-Cats, except that they had big scores to fill in the holes. Delhomme's 17, last year's number-one draft pick Mario Williams's 15, and TO's 10 were easily the difference makers in this game, sending a victory Youngstown's way.

FIRST Force (1-0) d. What Am I Doing Here (1-0)
115-86
What am I doing here? Pulling my hair out trying to figure how I'm going to make this review look different from the Rhode Island/Indiana game up top (and believe me, that's a lot of hair). I'll start with the irony of all ironys: FIRST Force had Carson Palmer's 29 points (I mean seriously, how does one throw six TDs, and still lose?), and Houshmandzadeh also benefited from that with 15 of his own. Those were the two highest scores on the Force's end, but their "lower" scorers included Jeff Reed (14), Willie Parker (13), Terrence McGee (11), and Donnie Edwards (11). WAIDH played an excellent game, and the ultimate irony (I don't know how we managed to top Force having Palmer, but we try :)) is that except in the QB slot, the scorecards were amazingly even; just look at Edgerrin, Portis, Denver, and Adailius Thomas. In fact, had both QBs scored even, WAIDH has their second victory. But FIRST Force is the 2-0 team here. Finally, just to add one more bit of irony: "FIRST Force may have the advantage at quarterback with Carson Palmer taking advantage of the pathetic Browns...". Ed was right too, and the Browns still won!

The XaulZans (1-0) d. Nor Cal Crushers (1-0)
81-44
It was clear that the Zans' Tony Romo was going to take the QB battle over the Crushers' J.P. Lossman (Ed even mentioned it in his pregame analysis), but is anyone else as surprised as me to be seeing Frank Gore and Rudi Johnson combine for 26 on the XaulZans' side? For Nor Cal, Westbrook and Jackson (normally good) were held to just 11. And their defense couldn't pick up nearly enough of the slack. The Zans won the defensive battle anyway, crushing the Crushers in the process.

Dunedain (0-1) d. Silver Lobos (1-0)
96-78
Did I mention Dunedain was back? Because the Lobos found this out the hard way. Peyton Manning was stuck in the single digits for them, which means either the Colts got creamed, or Dunedain's Joseph Addai came up big. It was the latter. And their QB (Favre in this case) looked a decade younger, throwing for 16 points. Both teams had receivers scoring 19, and the Lobos had a better defense, so the difference in this game was the fact that Dunedain won all the offensive battles. And just to add more to the irony bucket, Dunedain scored 96 points, and it was only the third highest score of the week.

Team Jack (0-1) d. Isotopes (1-0)
60-32
Um... I believe "yeouch" is the word to use here. The Isotopes were stuck with good players on bad weeks and a poor defense. What are you going to do, right? Team Jack had a similar situation (at least with their good players), but they were already halfway to victory with Brady's 16. Their defense didn't suffer as badly as the Isotopes', and while Team Jack's stars, for the most part, were quiet this week, their auxiliary players scored plenty. In fact, all but three players had more than five points, and while it wasn't spectacular by any sense of the word, it was still enough for what matters most: a plus-one in the win column.

The Stud Man Clan (0-1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (0-1)
74-50
"The Scapegoats may have to find a way to win without Larry Johnson, who will find the Bears stacking the box against him the same way they did against LT last week." That's one psychic point awarded to Ed. LJ was held to just 3 points. "Their savior is Jon Kitna? Unfortunately for the Scapegoats, a resounding "no". "So long as Shaun Alexander is on your side, things are good." Yeah, good for the Clan. While he "only" had 9, that 18 from Randy Moss (he's back!) was a nice boon. Neil Rackers (game-winning FGs For The, um, Win!) and the Dallas DEF both added 12 points taking the Clan out the ranks of the winless.

Five scores over 85, and two of them in losing efforts... that's gotta be a record. I have to say though, reviewing this week was funner than usual.

I'll catch you all next week, same postgame time, same postgame channel.

WEEK 3 SCHEDULE
 

The FIRST Robotics League


Koko's X-Cats (0-2)
vs. Rhode Island Drive (0-2)
A battle of colossal dissapointments. Starting with the quarterbacks where both Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees had breakthroughs last season both the X-Cats and the Drive are waiting for them to get busy this season. The Drive may be in better shape going with three running backs to two for the X-Cats. If the X-Cats are going to have any chance at all they need Henry to convert all of those yards he's getting into touchdowns. Lots of touchdowns.


Indiana Ironmen (2-0)vs. What Am I Doing Here (1-1)
The Ironmen keep escaping defeat but I can't see them getting by a team featuring three backs including the so-called best back in football LT when all they have is some back in Green Bay named DeShawn Wynn. Looks like it's Steve Smith, Chad Johnson and Clavin Johnson to the rescue again.


Youngstown Hitmen (1-1) vs. Nor Cal Crushers (1-1)
It's rare seeing the Crushers go down to defeat and they do have a pair of supposedly tough backs in Brian Westbrook and Stepehne Jackson but it hasn't shown on the field as of yet. The Hitmen have an odd situation on thier hands as they have Terrell Owens taking on their Chicago Bears defense. That could real put a crimp in your plans.


The XaulZans (2-0) vs. Silver Lobos (1-1)
The Silver Lobos are going with the one back attack against three. I'm not sure if Adrain Peterson can outscore Thomas Jones, Rudi Johnson and Frank Gore all by his lonesome. He's going to need some serious backup from Peyton Manning. If XaulZans get a good game from Tony Romo, it's over.


Dunedain (1-1) d. Isotopes (1-1)
Laurence Maroney could be huge for the Isatopes this week against the Bils undersized and overmatched defense this week. It would be noce to get something from Reggie Bush and Donovan McNabb too. Dunedain has Joseph Addia and Matt Hasselback abusing the non existent Bengals defense.

Team Jack (1-1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (0-2)
The Scapegoats face another lost week with Larry Johnson facing the inpenerlatble Vikings run defense and I doubt Jamal Lewis will run for 200+ versus the formidable Raiders defense. And don't think the Eagles are going to take it easy in Jon Kitna just because he had a concussion last week. Team Jack is on the attack with the three headed back attack of Mauric Jones-Drew, Cedric Benson and Carnell Williams but Tom Brady is their ace in the hole this week!


The Stud Man Clan (1-1) d. FIRST Force (2-0)
Can The Stud Man Clan's Jay Cutler keep up with FIRST Force's Carson Palmer now that he knows he has to outscore every team in sight if the Bengals are going to have any chance of victory? What about Shaun Alexander. He gets a shot at the Bengals defense this week. FIRST Force has Ahman Green and Willie Parker who will get alot of opportunities to carry the rock but will they be as productive as Alexander?

Week III Postgame Analysis
 

Yay, first win!

Rhode Island Drive (0-2) d. Koko's X-Cats (0-2)
63-47
"A battle of colossal disappointments." Truer words were never spoken... Anyhow, long story short, the X-Cats stopped scoring after Phillip Rivers delivered 17 points (humorously winning the QB battle by 24). Rhode Island (at least on Sunday) came with everything else, including Marion Barber's 18. They also dominated on the other side of the ball, winning the defensive battle by 25. Okay, the Drive had Brees and McAllister on Monday night (Brees turning the ball over five times and losing McAllister for the season), but luckily for them, this game was already over.

What Am I Doing Here (1-1) d. Indiana Ironmen (2-0)
72-51
What am I doing here? I'm wondering how the Ironmen's receiving troika of Smith, Johnson, and Johnson (sounds like a bad law firm) only scored 9 points between them. That's most of the Ironmen's offense right there. Matt Stover's albeit impressive 14 points by itself isn't going to cut it. WAIDH had LT and Portis putting up 10s. Vince Young joined in with another 10, and Burress tacked on 11. The defense did the rest, staying even with the Ironmen's, and starting this week's theme of undefeated teams losing.

Nor Cal Crushers (1-1) d. Youngstown Hitmen (1-1)
90-70
"The Hitmen have an odd situation on their hands as they have Terrell Owens taking on their Chicago Bears defense. That could real put a crimp in your plans." You know what's really odd? TO was the player of the game in that Sunday nighter, but only put up 8 fantasy points because he was the one Cowboy that didn't hit the end-zone. Which, by the way, also helped kill Youngstown's hope of salvaging a decent defensive score. Also, Nor Cal had Brian Westbrook. Nuff said... but I'll say more anyway because I'm contractually obligated. On top of Westbrook's 30, Nor Cal also had Lions' receiver Roy Williams's 17 (another "nuff said" moment), and two 10s on defense. Jordan, Delhomme, and Vinatieri combined for a respectable 37 for the Hitmen, and Westbrook and Williams still topped that by 10. So after taking a week off, the Crushers are back to doing what they do best: Crushing.

Silver Lobos (1-1) d. The XaulZans (2-0)
67-50
"The Silver Lobos are going with the one back attack against three. I'm not sure if Adrian Peterson can outscore Thomas Jones, Rudi Johnson and Frank Gore all by his lonesome." Peterson: 11, Jones, Johnson, & Gore (an even worse law firm): 9. Yay, Peterson! "He [Peterson] is going to need some serious backup from Peyton Manning." Manning had 10. Yay, Manning! In fact, that's just about how the game went; one back for the Lobos took out the entire middle-offense of the Zans. The one battle the Zans did win was with Romo, and that was only by 3. You add in the rest of the Lobos' offense, and it clearly is enough to take out another undefeated team.

Isotopes (1-1) d. Dunedain (1-1)
81-76
In what was probably the game of the week, the 'Topes had McNabb. His 21 kept them in the game. Reggie Bush (14) and Braylon Edwards (11) sure helped too. Dunedain had Hasselbeck (12), Addai (15), and Driver (13), and enough defense and auxiliary scores to stay even. Where this game was decided was at my favorite place: the kicking game. The Isotopes' kicker had 7. Dunedain's kicker... let's just say that he and the Rams team he plays for, well, Dunedained for a -1. Of all the times to have your kicker fail, in a high-scoring shootout is quite possibly the worst. Your winner: the Isotopes.

Team Jack (1-1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (0-2)
63-45
Something tells me the Goats would've been better off starting Kevin Curtis... a 30 sitting on the bench is something I wouldn't wish even on my Fantasy Football rivals. Especially when that 30 would've completely changed the outcome. Sadly, all of the Scapegoats whose scores (or lack thereof) actually counted stayed in single digits, and only two scored more than 5. Team Jack had Tom Brady's 20 from his domination over the Bills, Cowboys' safety Roy Williams's 10 (I actually have to differentiate between the two Roy Williams) in their domination over the Bears, and seven players scored 5 or more in Team Jack's domination over the Scapegoats.

The Stud Man Clan (1-1) d. FIRST Force (2-0)
64-61
Talk about your close games... both teams had a pair of goose-eggs, which actually makes me wonder what the score would've been if either team had one more scoring player. Both teams played alike; the Clan had 18 from Randy Moss, 15 from Dallas, & 10 from Neil Rackers, and the Force had Jeff Reed's 13, Houshmandzadeh's 12, and three more 7s from the rest of the offense. In fact, you'll notice that both team's total offense came to a total of 46, which means that it was one little defensive end tacking on 3 more for the Clan that was the difference. Also, FIRST Force was undefeated, and that didn't seem like it was a good thing this week. Either way, The Stud Man Clan wins.

Wow, not a good week to be undefeated, huh? Now, there's never been a team to finish the regular season undefeated in the history of the FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League, but this is easily the earliest that we've lost all undefeated teams. Can the same thing happen next week for the last two remaining winless teams? Tune in next week to find out!

Week IV Postgame Analysis
 

Can Devin Hester play quarterback?

Rhode Island Drive (1-2) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-1)
74-53
I bet the Crushers are cursing the idiots who kept kicking the ball to Devin Hester; up front, you can plainly see that his 22 was a big factor in this game. But even if he had only gotten 2 points, Rhode Island still would've won. Why? Well for starters, Brian Westbrook didn't play, and since it was a gametime decision for a late game, Nor Cal wasn't able to get anyone into his spot. The rest of the Drive's offense was better than the Crushers' too, including actual, positive points from Brian Griese. Nor Cal had double-digit scores from Josh Brown and Shawne Merriman, but those minute gains in the kicking and defensive games weren't enough to offset Rhode Island's consistent offensive scoring. Also, Devin Hester had 22. I'm just saying. :p

What Am I Doing Here (2-1) d. Koko's X-Cats (0-3)
65-56
What am I doing here? I'm trying to figure out how LT gets 15 for WAIDH, while Rivers gets negative points for the X-Cats. I'm going to stick at the QB point for just a moment because it's an important one: WAIDH's Matt Shaub won the QB battle by 11. It's fairly important because the rest of the scorecard is eerily even. Defenses were knotted up at 18, they both had a single scoreless player on offense, both mid-offenses scored 31 points, and the X-Cats only took kicking by 2. So if you're the X-Cats, you're cursing at Phillip Rivers (literally) for, *ahem*, dropping the ball. Bad joke, I know, but the X-Cats are stuck as the lone winless team now because of it.

FIRST Force (2-1) d. Indiana Ironmen (2-1)
61-46
Ironmen: great on defense, not so great on offense (QB not withstanding). Actually, I should make special notice of the Ironmen's defense; it was fairly consistent, combining for 30. Even Roethlisberger pitched in 9 points. But the rest of the Ironmen were a bit on the rusty side, as you can tell by their relatively low final score. Meanwhile, FIRST Force is coming at them with a nifty WR duo of Coles and Houshmandzadeh worth a combined 23. Their defense wasn't exactly slacking, either, with Terrance McGee leading the way with 10. More and higher scores are what keep FIRST Force in first place.

Silver Lobos (2-1) d. Youngstown Hitmen (1-2)
68-42
The Silver Lobos had Peyton Manning. Really, is there anything else I need to say? Actually, yes, because even if you subtract his 21 points, the Lobos are still winning. Youngstown's only three scores of note were Vinatieri's 8, Julian Peterson's 10, and Chicago's shocking 16. That was all. Three gooseeggs and two singles were devastatingly obvious on the Hitmen's side of things. The Lobos actually lost the defensive battle, but not by much. They also had Adrian Peterson and his 10 on offense. And look: no zeros! Also, Peyton Manning had 21. Again, I'm just saying. :p

The XaulZans (2-1) d. Isotopes (2-1)
86-56
The XaulZans had Tony Romo... yeah, yeah, you've heard it before. How even without his 24, the Zans would still be victorious. It's the same thing as the previous game. The 'Topes had three scores of note: Santonio Holmes (19), Mason Crosby (11), & Braylon Edwards (10). The 'Topes also had two zeros and two -1s (IOW, they had McNabb). The Zans Dominated on defense, winning that category by 19. There was also Kaeding's 12 and Witten's 9, plus everybody scored. Also, Tony Romo... oh, nevermind. We all know who won.

Stevies Scapegoats (0-3) d. Dunedain (1-2)
70-62
Finally, a 20+ score that actually determines the outcome of a game. In this case, it was the Detroit DEF, of all entities, tacking on 20 points for the Scapegoats. The rest of their scores were all in the single digits, but of those nine remaining, seven scored at least 5. Dunedain had more big scores, with Seattle leading the way with 15, Addai & Favre getting 13 and 12, respectively, and Gabril Wilson scoring 10. But unfortunately, the rest of their scores left something to be desired, with all six of their remaining players scoring five or less. The Scapegoats worked hard this week, and that hard work got them their first win.

Team Jack (2-1) d. The Stud Man Clan (2-1)
61-59
In case you've been going along the entire review wondering who has Randy Moss and Ronnie Brown, look no further. The Clan got 34 from them. And then there's the ultimate sacrilege of keeping someone on a bye in your lineup, especially in such a close game. It would come back to haunt them. On Sunday, the Jack defense totaled the Clan defense, but it looked like the game was still well-in-hand for the Clan with a rather lackluster offensive showing from Team Jack. But then Monday Night Football came along. With Moss scoring as high as he did, obviously Team Jack's Tom Brady must've done something too. In this case, it was worth 14 points. They also got 12 from the Patriots' primary back from that game, Sammy Morris. It's amazing what a last-minute sub can do for a team. In this case, it's just enough for Team Jack to squeak by to victory.

And now we're down to one winless team. Can Koko and his X-Cats finally break free and win one? Can FIRST Force keep first place for a third straight week? Find out next time.

Re: Week IV Postgame Analysis
 

Sorry for the lack of an update.
You'd think for $150 a night that an inn would have working wireless there.
At least Kim and Eric made a lovely couple and seeing Kim trying to do the Cotten Eye Joe in a massive wedding dress (lift dress up and kick feet madly) made it worth the trip plus seeing all the single ladies respond to the bouquet as if it was a live grenade made it worth the trip.

The FIRST Robotics League




Koko's X-Cats (0-4)vs. Indiana Ironmen (2-2)
The X-Cats are trying to change their luck by changing over their roster. First of all by benching the ineffective and turnover prove Phillip Rivers. Then they installed three other starters including Dre Bly who goes up against Rivers. Their biggest hope is still Travis Henry before he gets himself suspended for doing something stupid again.The Ironmen are trying to bounce back from last weeks disappointing loss with bounce back games from Ben Roethlisberger and Steve Smith.

Rhode Island Drive (2-2) vs.
Silver Lobos (3-1)
The Drive are going against their usual bread and butter as they are now facing Peyton Manning but they have Marion Barber III going against the Bills decimated defense. The Lobos weakness is at running back. All they have is Kevin Jones. Thus they have to rely on Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker to get some yards to have a chance.

What Am I Doing Here (3-1) vs.
Nor Cal Crushers (2-2)
WAIDH has Ladainian Thomlinson, Clinton Portis and Edgerrin James. The Crushers have Brian Leonard. Tjis could get very ugly unless Eli Manning has a career day.



Isotopes (2-2)vs. Youngstown Hitmen (1-3)
Underwhelming matchups at quartback (David Garrad for the Isotopes vs. Matt Leinart for the Hitmen) and running back (Reggie Bush for the Isotopes vs. Leon Washington for the Hitmen). So it comes down to the recivers. the Hitmen have TO going against the Bills battered D so there may lie the key to victory.

The XaulZans (3-1) vs. Stevies Scapegoats (1-3)
The XaulZans have Tony Romo vs. the Bills. That is big. The Scapegoats need big games from Jamal Lewis, Jon Kitna and Torry Holt to keep it close and hope Frank Gore and Thomas Jones come up short.

The Stud Man Clan (2-2)vs. Dunedain (1-3)

The Clan are hurting themselves by missing two starters on defense and thus put more pressure on players like Jay Cutler, Shaun Alexanader and Randy Moss to play even bigger games. Dunedain has Brett Farve but I'm not sure if Brandon Jacob will play so they have a real possibility of totally bombing this week if Farve doesn't play well.



Team Jack (3-1) vs.
FIRST Force (3-1)
Team Jack will no doubt get a big game from Tom Brady but need alot more from Cedric Benson to be able to win. FIRST Force may or may not see action from Kurt Warner so they are living dangerously. Ho many quality carries will Julius Jones get on Monday in the red zone? Willie Parker to the rescue!

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Of all the weeks to bench Rivers and the Chargers defense, it had to be this one!
.....killin' me....

Week V Postgame Analysis
 

I haven't had much time this week, so this post-game review will be on the short side.

Silver Lobos (3-1) d. Rhode Island Drive (2-2)
65-49
This one's rather simple: Rhode Island had no offense. Their combined 35 on defense was prettymuch wasted. The Lobos' offense had Peyton Manning and John Kasay both put up 12, and a 10 from Urlacher on defense put this game out of reach for the Drive.

Indiana Ironmen (2-2) d. Koko's X-Cats (0-4)
74-52
"The X-Cats are trying to change their luck by changing over their roster. First of all, by benching the ineffective and turnover prone Phillip Rivers." On the best game of his season, nonetheless. Net gain by putting in Pennington: -18. "Then they installed three other starters including Dre Bly, who goes up against Rivers." Net gain by taking out Julius Peppers in favor of Bly: -7. And let's not forget their net gain of -9 from not playing the Chargers DEF. So much for changing their luck... "The Ironmen are trying to bounce back from last week's disappointing loss with bounce-back games from Ben Roethlisberger and Steve Smith." They both scored 8. New England's 14 and Chris Cooley's 11 were the other big factors in the Ironmen's victory. Go, Ironmen!

What Am I Doing Here (3-1) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-2)
48-44
What am I doing here? I'm about to quote Ed in an effort to save time. :D "WAIDH has LaDainian Thomlinson, Clinton Portis and Edgerrin James. The Crushers have Brian Leonard." Thomlinson, Portis, & James combined for 10. Leonard had a respectable 8. The Crushers also had the other Manning scoring 9. But the rest of their offense was non-existent. At least WAIDH backed up their semi-lackluster backs with 13 from Burress and 9 from Gould.

Youngstown Hitmen (1-3) d. Isotopes (2-2)
64-49
The 'Topes were led by three 8s: Garrard, Crosby, & Arizona. Yes, I said "led". Nothing in the double digits whatsoever. The Hitmen were led by a surprising 15 from Leon Washington, 11 from Chicago, and two 8s: Julian Peterson & Joshua Cribbs. Since the rest of the scores remained about even, Youngstown was able to break their losing streak.

The XaulZans (3-1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (1-3)
53-41
You can see where the Scapegoats went wrong. While Folk's 15 and Holt's 14 looked impressive, the rest of their offense combined for -2. Even the Zans' Romo did better than that. Speaking of Romo, Jason Witten was his leading recipient, scoring 13. Kaeding added 11, and the XaulZans defense outscored the Scapegoats' by 9, giving the Zans their second straight win.

Dunedain (1-3) d. The Stud Man Clan (2-2)
53-36
"Dunedain has Brett Farve, but I'm not sure if Brandon Jacobs will play, so they have a real possibility of totally bombing this week if Farve doesn't play well." Brandon Jacobs actually tied for Dunedain's high score with 9. Favre had 8. Impressive? Not very, but Dunedain's combined lower scores (only three of their players scored less than 4) kept putting them farther and farther away from from the struggling Clan. Ronnie Brown's 14 was the Clan's only score of note. A couple more decent scorers would've helped them get a W, but seven out of ten of their players scored fewer than 3 points. You just can't win like that.

Team Jack (3-1) d. FIRST Force (3-1)
74-32
"Team Jack will no doubt get a big game from Tom Brady... 18. Pretty darn big, if you ask me. You can replace Brady's name in that quote with Gates, Jennings, or Benson, as they scored 12, 10, & 9, respectively. Even with 11 from FIRST Force's Kurt Warner (who'd have thunk?), this game was over on Sunday. Terrence McGee ran like Marion Jones on steroids Monday night for the Force, but they needed him to score 32 points; alas, he "only" scored 19.

Hopefully, I won't have to be brief next week. And hopefully, Koko and his X-Cats can win and get out of that basement. See you next week.

Re: Week V Postgame Analysis
 

The FIRST Robotics League



Koko's X-Cats (0-5)
vs. FIRST Force (3-2)
After being humbled by "God-Don't-Like-Ugly" twist of fate the X-Cats learned their lesson and put the Chargers and their quarterback back in the starting position. If the passing combination of Carson Palmer to T.J. Houshmandzadeh continues to click for FIRST Force it won't matter who the X-Cats start.

Isotopes (2-3)vs.
Rhode Island Drive (2-3)
The Drive are going with a triple back attack (though I am not so sure how effective Norwood will be if the Giants get out to a big lead. Derrick Anderson could be their home run hitter this week. The Isotopes have the disappointing Reggie Bush and Donovan McNabb . They need alot more.


What Am I Doing Here (4-1) vs. Silver Lobos (4-1)
Game of the week? MMmmmmaaaaybeee.
But with LaDainian Tomlinson, Palxico Burress, Clinton Portis and Edgerrin James on WAIDH side and Mmmmmmmmmmaaaayyyybe not. I could be wrong if Jeff Garcia is big against the titans. Yeah, I don't think so neither.

Indiana Ironmen (3-2) vs. Nor Cal Crushers (2-3)
When Gus Freotte is your best hope for victory how much hope can you really have? The Ironmen need people like Domanic Rhodes, Chad Johnson and Steve Smith to be huge. The Crushers got Eli Manning to feed on the roadkill formerly known as the Atlanta Falcons and Brain Westbrooks shooting down the Jets.

Youngstown Hitmen (2-3) vs. Stevies Scapegoats (1-4)
The Scapegoats may finally get a good game from Larry Johnson but now Jamal Lewis isn't playing. The Hitmen need TO to hold on ball and Jason Campbell to play it cool in Green Bay.

The XaulZans (4-1)vs. The Stud Man Clan (2-3)
The good news for the Stud Man Clan is Shaun Alexander is playing the Saints and Ronnie brown is playing the Browns (no relation). The bad news is Steve McNair may or may not play and may or may not play well if he's playing. The XaulZans got Rudi Johnson running on the Chiefs and Tony Romo who could either play a big game today or totally bomb.

Team Jack (4-1) vs. Dunedain (2-3)
With Tom Brady, Antonio Gates and Maurice Jones-Drew on their side Team Jack looks like a shoo in. To quote Lee Corso "Not so fast my friend!" Dunedain has Brandon Jacobs running all over the Falcons and who knows what Brett Farve will do. This one could be more interesting than first anticipated.

Week VI Postgame Analysis
 

I'd like to thank the special teams of the Minnesota Vikings for being stupid enough to kick to Devin Hester. :D

Rhode Island Drive (2-3) d. Isotopes (2-3)
111-45
You've heard of running back by committee, you've heard of bullpen by committee, now, the Rhode Island Drive present you with their quarterback by committee! Brees and Griese both sat on the Drive's bench (though to their credit, they did both hit double digits) while Derek Anderson started. Who's Derek Anderson? I have no idea (okay, I do, but I'm feigning ignorance in an attempt to sound unbiased ;)), but quoth Ed: "Derek Anderson could be their home run hitter this week.", and he did put up 22. The downside was that the Isotpes had Braylon Edwards, who caught all three of Anderson's touchdown passes and ended the week with 21. Their QB wasn't nearly as good though, as McNabb only scored 8. In fact, the rest of the team wasn't nearly as good either, and nobody else on the 'Topes scored more than 4. Rhode Island had a heck of a lot more backup. Not mentioned yet were Devin Hester's 26, Jerious Norwood's 16 (a combined 497 yards between the two), Eric Wright's 12, and the fact that only two players failed to score 6 or more. Simply put, this was a blowout.

Koko's X-Cats (0-5) d. FIRST Force (3-2)
81-68
"After being humbled by 'God-Don't-Like-Ugly' twist of fate, the X-Cats learned their lesson and put the Chargers and their quarterback back in their starting positions." Yeah, I don't know what that means either, but it did sound cool. Also, while Rivers didn't do very well (though neither did Pennington, making this a moot point), the San Diego DEF led a very powerful defensive showing from the X-cats with 13. Also put back in his place on the Cats' roster was Julius Peppers, who matched that 13. The X-Cats defense combined for an impressive 46 when all was said and done. They also had some much-needed offensive help from Tony Gonzalez (18) and Steven Gostkowski (12). Much of FIRST Force's score came from two sources: T.J. Houshmandzadeh's 20 and Baltimore's 19. But beyond Carson Palmer winning the QB battle by 8, there wasn't much help from the rest of the Force's offense, and the rest of their defense couldn't live up to Baltimore's standards. Finally, the most important thing this week is that the X-Cats finally won. Yay, X-Cats!

Silver Lobos (4-1) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-1)
103-78
"Game of the week? MMmmmmaaaaybeee. But with LaDainian Tomlinson, Plaxico Burress, Clinton Portis and Edgerrin James on WAIDH's side, mmmmmmmmmmaaaayyyybe not." What am I doing here? Well first, I'm going to suggest to Ed that he get his "m" key checked; it appears to be stuck. :p Second, I'm going to point out how Tomlinson, James, & Burress managed to combine for 54, and WAIDH still loses. "I could be wrong if Jeff Garcia is big against the Titans." Well relatively speaking, his 10 for the Lobos was rather small. But a: he won the QB battle by 9, and b: I only say "relatively small" because the Lobos had Adrian Peterson and his amazing 37. Adding Burleson's 11, the Lobos only have a 4-point edge, so how did the scoring margin get so darned big? The main difference in this game is that of the rest of WAIDH's players, five of them scored 1 miserable point, whereas only one player on the Silver Lobos's scorecard scored less than 5. Those little points differences all over the scoreboard added up significantly, and while it wasn't as big a scoring difference as the Drive/'Topes game up top, it was still a very overpowering win.

Indiana Ironmen (3-2) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-3)
57-54
"The Crushers got Eli Manning to feed on the roadkill formerly known as the Atlanta Falcons..." I LOL'd at this one, personally (and the "shooting down the Jets" line was clever too). But it brings me to my next point: "When Gus Frerotte is your best hope for victory how much hope can you really have? Apparently, the Ironmen had a few stockpiles of hope left over from their miracle playoff run last season, because Frerotte's -9 is exactly how NOT to win a game. But the 17-point advantage Nor Cal had in the QB slot was quickly nullified by Matt Stover kicking for Indiana, and the Crushers were unable to put up anything better than single-digit scores. The Ironmen were able to overtake them with efforts like Steve Smith's 13 and Chris Cooley's 12, and Antonio Pierce scoring 1 better than Eli on Monday Night Football was the final nail in the coffin for the slumping Crushers.

Stevies Scapegoats (1-4) d. Youngstown Hitmen (2-3)
68-67
Holy close games, Batman! It's so close, that it's actually fairly difficult to place how the Scapegoats actually won, especially with Jamal Lewis not playing. Let's see, there was LJ and Tampa Bay (say, that rhymes) with 10s, Kevin Curtis with 13, and Thomas Howard with 12. In Youngstown, we had a combined running game worth 13, a combined receiving game worth 19, and Jason Campbell (worth 12). But while it may be difficult to see how the Scapegoats won, it's rather easy to see how the Hitmen lost. It was a lack of defense (three players combined for 5) that left the opening for the Scapegoats to squeak by. And a win's a win, no matter how close.

The XaulZans (4-1) d. The Stud Man Clan (2-3)
66-43
"The good news for the Stud Man Clan is... ...Ronnie Brown is playing the Browns (no relation)." He had the Clan's high score of 9. It's also the only good news for them. "The bad news is Steve McNair may or may not play, and may or may not play well if he's playing." He didn't play. And right there go any hopes of the Stud Man Clan salvaging this week. The Zans played conservatively, opting to bench any players that may not play, or have a good chance of bombing, so they wound up with no good scores, but a bunch of decent scores. Seven players scored at least 7, and as we learned from the Lobos earlier, those little points do add up. Conglomeration FTW!

Team Jack (4-1) d. Dunedain (2-3)
80-44
Apparently, Team Jack doesn't know jack about what the Dúnedain are (I've been waiting to use that one all season), but alas, it was the Fall of Arnor all over again. "With Tom Brady, Antonio Gates, and Maurice Jones-Drew on their side, Team Jack looks like a shoo-in." Ed should've just stopped on that point, because that was the game right there. Brady and Jones-Drew combined for 49. There's really not much more I can say. Dunedain's top score came from a Joey Galloway 10, but a negative in the QB spot and lack of any other noticeable scores made this game over before it started.

Koko won! Let's all give him a w00t! w00t! Can he make it into a winning streak, and can the Lobos keep up their streak of dominating wins?

Next week marks the halfway point of the regular season, and as such, I'll have a review of the first half up after my regular postgame, as well as the first-half awards. It'll be a big week next week, so make sure you tune in!

Re: Week VI Postgame Analysis
 

The FIRST Robotics League

Koko's X-Cats (1-5) vs. Nor Cal Crushers (2-4)
The X-Cats finally break through to the win column and in order to make a return visit they need people like Chad Pennington and Marshawn Lynch to take it up a notch. The disappointing Crushers look to Eli Manning and Brian Westbrook to help right the ship.

Stevies Scapegoats (2-4) vs. Rhode Island Drive (3-3)
The Drive are hoping to get alot out of their three headed back attack of Norwood, Barber III and especially McGahee against his old team the Bills. None of them have really lit the league on fire as of yet but there is possibilities of them breaking through. The Scapegoats need a big game from Larry Johnson and for Daunte Culpepper not to kill them.

Isotopes (2-4)vs. What Am I Doing Here (4-2)
WAIDH is also going with a three back attack with Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis and Warrick Dunn while the Isotopes have Reggie Bush. Thus they're going to need a big game from Donovan McNabb.

Indiana Ironmen (4-2) vs. Silver Lobos (5-1)
The Lobos are looking to Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson to pave the way. Both have tough assignments this week and may see their points production hindered. The Ironmen want a big game from Ben Roethlisberger but their ace in the hole is the New England Patriots defense making tuna out of the Miami Dolphins.

The Stud Man Clan (2-4)vs. Youngstown Hitmen (2-4)
The Clan are looking for big games from Shaun Alexander and Ronnie Brown because who knows what they are going to get from Jay Cutler (at least one interception is a good bet). The Hitmen got the steadier young quarterback in Jason Campbell but only have Lamont Jordan running the ball.

The XaulZans (5-1) vs.
Team Jack (5-1)
The game if the week.
While Team Jack is well armed with tom Brady on their side Lendale White and Cedric Benson don't exactly breed confidence. XaulZans got it a bit better with Frank Gore and Thomas Jones on their side. If Tony Romo can get it going the XualZans could steal this game.

FIRST Force (3-3)vs. Dunedain (2-4)
FIRST Force is looking for strong games from Carson Palmer, T.J.Houshmandzadeh and Willie Parker. Dunedain needs Joseph Addia to somehow break through against the Jaguars and Matt Hasselback to play a strong game as well.

Week VII Postgame Analysis
 

Good thing I didn't promise that this postgame analysis would be early...

Rhode Island Drive (3-3) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-4)
108-55
Who's to blame for the Scapegoats losing (get it? scapegoats, blame... oh, never mind)? Not Larry Johnson and the Detroit DEF; they scored 13 and 10, respectively. No, it was the rest of the team that was to blame. Way too many scores on the lower end of single-digit territory. Though even if the rest of the team did step up, they faced the Rhode Island Drive's second triple-digit score in as many weeks. Now, I'm going to mark out for the Drive for a moment here (and I swear it's not because I'm biased): RHODE ISLAND HAD 7 PLAYERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS!!! Among that crowd are the Washington DEF, McGahee, Brees (quarterback by committee FTW!) Barber III, & Akers. Special mention goes to DeMeco Ryans's 25 and London Fletcher's 20. For those of us paying attention, that's a combined 62 on defense, and that's barely half their total! Yowza.

Koko's X-Cats (1-5) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-4)
91-60
Hey, Pennington was actually useful! And by useful, I mean his 21 points were the main reason the X-Cats have a winning streak going. Wes Welker hitting the end-zone twice helped, as did the pair of 10s put up by Marshawn Lynch and Jason Taylor. On the flip side though, is the Crushers' losing streak. They just haven't been able to catch a break. This week, they had respectable performances from Josh Brown and Jericho Cotchery, but Westbrook and Williams were quiet, and the Nor Cal defense was held to under 20 fantasy points. So, as previously mentioned, the X-Cats now have a winning streak. w00t!

Isotopes (2-4) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-2)
57-53
What am I doing here? Well I'm not saying great things about WAIDH's running game this week, that's for sure. It was Portis and Robbie Gould doing the heavy lifting this week for WAIDH, but it seemed like nobody else on the offense wanted to do even light lifting. The defense did some light lifting, but that was all it was: light. Alright, it was slightly heavier than the Isotopes' defense, but the 'Topes at least backed up Anquan Boldin and Reggie Bush with Santonio Holmes and Donovan McNabb. With things like 0s in their QB slot, it's no wonder WAIDH got edged out.

Silver Lobos (5-1) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-2)
95-62
This matchup seems oddly familiar... Anyhow, surprisingly, the Roethlisberger/Peyton Manning battle went Roethisberger's way. But while the Ironmen won that battle, the Lobos decidedly took the war. The afforementioned Manning held his own with 14, and he was complemented by Burleson's 16, Tennessee's 11, & Kevin Jones's 10. This is all extra to the fact that nine of the Lobos' ten players scored 7 or more, and even at the minimum, the Ironmen have already lost by 1. This is because Roethlisberger's 16 wasn't that great, there are no other scores in double digits, and half the single-digit scorers for the Ironmen were on the low end. This result seems oddly familiar too...

The Stud Man Clan (2-4) d. Youngstown Hitmen (2-4)
72-63
It's a real good-news, bad-news situation for the Stud Man Clan. First the good news: Cutler, of all people, tallied 14, Randy Moss was his usual self, scoring 19, Dallas tacked on 12, and the rest of the Clan defense wasn't slacking. Then the bad news: Neil Rackers actually subtracted points from their total, and the Clan lost Ronnie Brown to the IR. I suppose we can do the same analysis for the Hitmen: the good news is that TO, Leon Washington, & Roddy White (who?) combined for 35. The bad news was, well, just about everything else, including a -1 from Jason Campbell in the QB spot. The Clan got the better of the good news, but will their bad news kill their future?

Team Jack (5-1) d. The XaulZans (5-1)
95-59
Holy palindromic scores, Batman! Long story short, Team Jack had Tom Brady squishing the fish and taking in 32 fantasy points. That's halfway to the win right there. The other half was provided by the Giants' DEF 18, Maurice Jones-Drew's 16, & LenDale White's 13. The rest was just gravy. The totaled XaulZans were stuck relying on Mike Nugent's 11 and Jared Allen's 12. Not exactly fear-inspiring, is it?

FIRST Force (3-3) d. Dunedain (2-4)
77-71
A Seattle 23: that's what keeps Dunedain from being completely blown out. Because despite only a six-point difference in the final score, this game wasn't even close. I'm not really knocking Dunedain; if it means anything, FIRST Force's win was quite ugly in and of itself. Their usual scorers, Palmer, Parker, & Houshmandzadeh (talk about a law firm that uses too much ink on its letterhead) were kept in the upper single-digits. It fell upon Laveranues Coles's 19 to be the cornerstone of their victory. The defense pitched in as well, with Keith Bulluck and Terrence McGee combining for 23. Dunedain really only had Seattle's 23. Brandon Jacobs tried to help with 12 of his own, but Addai, Hasselbeck, & Galloway were relatively quiet this week. FIRST Force claims victory, even if it was a bit on the ugly side.

Koko's X-Cats are on a winning streak! Yay, Koko!

Anyhow, the first-half analysis and awards will be up, um, Soon™ (that is, sometime before noon on Sunday). See you then!

Mid-season Review/Awards
 

Best-of-the-best: first half!

Most Valuable QB

Tom Brady (Team Jack)
Talk about your major players. He's 49 points up on the next highest-scoring QB, and is the main source of points on a team vying for first place. This one's kinda easy.

Honorable Mention: Peyton Manning
The Silver Lobos are in first place, and it's no surprise that Peyton is on their roster. With 84 points, he's not the only reason the Lobos are on top, but they wouldn't be on top without him.

Best Running Game

LaDanian Tomlinson, Edgerrin James, & Clinton Portis (What Am I Doing Here)
What am I doing here? I'm staring at three backs in the top 11. Despite a slow start, LT is now the second-best back in the league, and James & Portis provide excellent auxiliary scoring. And more proof that WAIDH deserves this award is the fact that two of their losses came to opponents breaking the 100 mark, and the third was with LT on a bye. Not too shaby.

Honorable Mention: Marion Barber III, Willis McGahee, & Jerious Norwood
What am I doing here? I'm staring at three backs in the top 12 (copy & paste FTW!). The Rhode Island Drive's three backs aren't as great as WAIDH's (heck, most of Norwood's points are from returning; his lone rushing TD does make him eligible for placement though), but you can't discount their usefulness in both of the Drive's back-to-back triple-digit games and their overall #2 fantasy point ranking.

Best Receiving Game

Steve Smith & Chad Johnson (Indiana Ironmen)
There are receivers that are better than these two, but no team, by far, has a better duo. A combined 9 TDs and 1176 receiving yards, these two are always at the forefront of the Ironmen's highlights.

Honorable Mention: Randy Moss & Andre Davis
Remember what I said about there being better receivers? Moss is the best, and is absolutely dominating. Andre Davis may look a bit out of place, but he does contribute his fair share. The Stud Man Clan look to make a second-half push with these two leading the way.

Most Valuable Kicker

Matt Stover (Indiana Ironmen)
All the higher-scoring kickers are on teams under .500, and they're really not that much better than Stover. While not as electrifying as the aforementioned receiving duo, Stover is seen putting up points every week.

Honorable Mention: Jay Feely
I'm fairly certain I haven't mentioned Feely at all this season, but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. Team Jack has won 6 straight, and the consistent scoring from the kicker spot means one less worry for them.

Most Productive Offense

Rhode Island Drive
It's just like the RB award earlier, but with two major twists. First is Devin Hester profiting off of teams stupid enough to kick the ball to him in Rhode Island's WR/TE spot; he's ranked 4th among all receivers. Second is the Drive's "quarterback by committee" featuring the fourth-ranked Derek Anderson and the getting-better-with-every-week Brian Griese. Add back in Barber III, McGahee, Norwood, & a top 10 kicker, and you can see why the Rhode Island Drive have the second-most fantasy points.

Honorable Mention: What Am I Doing Here
It's just like the RB award earlier. WAIDH even have a better receiver than the Drive in Plaxico Burress, plus a top ten kicker themselves. Where they lose this award though is at QB. They're stuck with Schaub & Young. It's their big flaw, but one that could get better as the season progresses.

Honorable Mention: Silver Lobos
The Silver Lobos are number one all around, but ironically, it's not because they're the best everywhere. Yes, they have Peyton Manning. Yes, they have probable Rookie of the Year (and best single RB right now) Adrian Peterson. But the majority of their scoring comes from the rest of their offense being consistently in the middle of the pack. It ain't pretty. It ain't flashy. But it is effective.

Most Dominant Defense

Dunedain
This was a tough one because of Dunedain's record. But their five losses are all on their offense. Seattle is the top DEF, and Barrett Ruud & Michael Boley are both top-five defensemen. Gabril Wilson isn't half bad either. Now, about ditching Seattle before Week VIII...

Honorable Mention: Youngstown Hitmen
If Dunedain gets the full award, then the Hitmen deserve at least an honorable mention. Chicago is the second-best DEF, and Julian Peterson, Will Witherspoon, & Osi Umenyiora are all in the top 15. Too bad they have no offense...

Honorable Mention: Rhode Island Drive
They're not nearly as good as the first two, but Rhode Island's defense has saved their bacon on numerous occasions. Minnesota is the third-best DEF (and they have 8th best Washington to go to on odd weeks), DeMeco Ryans is the top defensive player of the first half, London Fletcher is ranked 8th, & Eric Wright keeps piling on the singles.

Honorable Mention: Indiana Ironmen
And if I mention Rhode Island, I have to mention Indiana. Their three defensive players are in the top 20, and they have #4 New England for a DEF. Their defense isn't as much of an entity on its own (hence just getting an honorable mention), but combined with their offense... Yikes.

Playoff Picture

We have six weeks left, and absolutely no chance for strength-of-schedule controversies! It looks like, since more than half of the teams competing will get into the playoffs, that 7 wins will be the number to hit. And since both the Lobos and Team Jack have matches that are very much in their favor and 6 wins already, I'd bet my lunch money on both teams seeing postseason action. The XaulZans may need to be careful though, as they only have two sub-.500 teams left to play and were never really a high scoring team to begin with.

The Drive, Force, Ironmen, & WAIDH may wind up controlling who gets into the playoffs, and who stays home. All four have the Zans, but other than the Drive's recent surge and WAIDH's recent skid, there isn't much else going on. In fact, their combined schedules are so relatively easy, that these four teams may break so far away from the bottom half of the league that it may be all but impossible for the top 6/7 to be broken into from here on in. It should be interesting.

The Isotopes and the Clan both just broke three-game losing streaks with a much needed win. I actually wouldn't be shocked if both teams went 3-3 and wound up deciding the last playoff spot among themselves.

But the real action is down bottom. Any one or more of these teams can very easily make a 5-1 surge (and someone always does). Just look at the X-Cats; they have their first winning streak of the season. And if the Crushers can steal either Week VIII or IX, that 7 game mark is all of a sudden in reach. The Scapegoats have slightly more work to do, especially from dead last, but beating the right 4 teams could secure them a bottom spot. Dunedain & the Hitmen both have very difficult second-half schedules to overcome, which means they'll have the most work to do if they want to play in the playoffs. But keep in mind that these five are all currently only a single game out of 8th place, and therefore, far from finished.

Finally, for completeness, here are the magic numbers:

• Lobos & Jack are in with 4 wins, or 3 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes.
• Zans are in with 5 wins, or 4 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes.
• Drive, Force, Ironmen, & WAIDH will be in the playoffs if they win out. Also, 5 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes will work too.
• Clan & Topes are straddling the border, but if one wins out, and the other suffers from a single loss, the one that wins out will be guaranteed at least 8th. If one team fails to win another game, and the other wins a single game, the team that loses out will be eliminated.
• Dunedain, X-Cats, Hitmen, Crushers, & Scapegoats will be eliminated if they lose out. 5 losses plus a single win from either the Clan or Topes would also eliminate them.

These are all basic. Anything deeper would need a supercomputer, and I'm fairly certain the results would be quite boring anyway. I suppose all that's left to say about the playoffs is this: WIN, WIN, WIN!

This concludes our first half analysis & awards. Refreshments are available in the lobby. Please leave in an orderly fashion, and remember that we will be returning in the next few days for the first postgame analysis of the second half. See you then!

Week VIII Postgame Analysis
 

So if you guys would just skip over that first review...

Rhode Island Drive (4-3) d. The Stud Man Clan (3-4)
59-48
Remember Rhode Island's "Most Productive Offense"? Well, half of it was off this week. Luckily, they had their honorable mention of a dominant defense to save their bacon (again). While Minnesota was nigh useless, Fletcher, Wright, & Ryans combined for 23. Then there were the bits and pieces of the Rhode Island offense that weren't off, namely Derek Anderson (16) and David Akers (10). Now, the Drive did a rather interesting thing to cover their byes: they handcuffed two backs and added two returners. It didn't work very well (the handcuffed backs were from the Bears, and we all know how well they did this week), but at least I see their strategy; I can't, for the life of me, figure out what the Clan were thinking starting three defenders from the same team. Even if they were Patriots, they were on the field for only a third of the game. And what's worse, what seemed to be their ace-in-the-hole this week, Randy Moss, only took in 8 points. In the end, this game was ugly to play and ugly to watch. But Rhode Island somehow manages to win.

Silver Lobos (6-1) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-5)
71-62
The X-Cats had Travis Henry. Aaaaaannnd that's the story of this game. The X-Cats were already spotting two 0s to the Lobos (for some odd reason, Julius Peppers did absolutely nothing), and the Lobos took advantage of the situation. Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne hooked up enough for 29 points, Tennessee had 10, and the rest of both the offense and defense, at the very least, kept pace. Not that that pace was very difficult to keep up with. Along with their two zeros, the X-Cats also had two 1s and two 4s. Their upper scores were nifty; San Diego led with 18, Rivers had 14, and Welker & Gostkowski (another spellcheck nemesis) both scored 10. But with two 0s due to unforeseen circumstances, the X-Cats were playing at 80%, and to quote Ed, essentially screwed.

Stevies Scapegoats (2-5) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-3)
53-22
What am I doing here? Um... Well, I'd say I was critiquing WAIDH down to the last detail, but that'd involve words Brandon Martus would ban me for. Suffice it to say, they weren't good. Their entire offense (that's six players) combined for 6 points total. Their defense wasn't half bad, but I'm pretty sure defense is a moot point right now. The Scapegoats weren't exactly Olympic caliber themselves, but at the very least, eight of their players turned in at least 3 points, and Torry Holt's 13 plus Detroit's 11 would've won on their own. There's really not much else to say.

Isotopes (3-4) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-3)
83-60
Now here's what happens when one team has the one Patriots defenseman that actually got to do something. I'm talking about Mike Vrabel's 23. The Isotopes won by exactly 23. Coincidence? Probably. I mean, the 'Topes also had Braylon Edward's 18, McNabb's 11, & Longwell's 10. Meanwhile, Steve Smith was off for the Ironmen, they dumped Stover, and their receiving duo of Johnson & Johnson (don't they sponsor the New Jersey Regional?) was less than spectacular (to put it in perspective, their best receiver this week was the guy who caught the lone TD for the Redskins). The Ironmen did have the New England DEF, but their 15 could only go so far. The same goes for Roethlisberger's 10. When your middle-offense and defensive players can't back you up, you're not going to win a high-scoring game.

FIRST Force (4-3) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-5)
56-53
I was tempted to make a bad boy-band joke upon seeing all the byes on both teams' scorecards. In such a close scoring game, every tiny provider of points starts to matter. In the Crushers' case, they were missing a kicker. While I'm pleased to welcome Brian Westbrook back to the scoreboard with 16, I can't help but notice that had Nor Cal played a kicker who kicked a single field goal, this game would've tied. On the other side, half of FIRST Force's defense also put up 0s due to byes. At least Terrence McGee's 10 kept the Force defense from becoming all for naught. Fast Willie Parker led the Force offense with 13, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh did his job, scoring 10. In the end, they won by 3, which was 2 more than they needed to.

Team Jack (6-1) d. Youngstown Hitmen (2-5)
95-41
I'll keep it to just the good stuff in this review. The Hitmen had Will Witherspoon's 10, and the Hitmen outscored WAIDH (though to be fair, a half asleep team of monkeys would've outscored WAIDH). Team Jack had Tom Brady's 3 passing and 2 rushing touchdowns. Team Jack had dual 16s from Gates and Ward. Team Jack still won defense with a bunch of single-digit scores. Team Jack had seven of it's players scoring at least 7 points. And if I say it for Youngstown, I have to say it for Team Jack: Team Jack outscored WAIDH (though to be fair, I could've gone onto the gridiron and outscored WAIDH). Long story short, Team jack won.

Dunedain (2-5) d. The XaulZans (5-2)
93-60
I'll come right out and say it: I was impressed with the XaulZans' defensive unit. E.J. Henderson, Antoine Winfield, Nick Barnett, & the Jacksonville DEF combined for 39. Sadly, nobody on the Zans' offense cleared 5, so while they put up a decent score, they had to compete with Dunedain. Dunedain's defense was only half as powerful as its opponent's, but they made up for it on offense. Let's start with Joseph Addai's 109 YDs & 3 TDs. Favre was on fire too, netting 15, and Dunedain's two receivers piled on another 22. On the downside, Dunedain had San Francisco's -1. I suppose they can't all be winners...

856 points scored this week, a whole 2.6% of which was scored by WAIDH...

I kid, I kid. We're going into Week IX, and thankfully, there's a clean chopping point for this week's (brief) playoff picture:

• Lobos & Jack's magic number is 2. They could clinch as early as next week if they win and all three of Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan lose.
• The next magic number is 4 for the Drive, Force, & Zans (3 if Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan each lose once).
• Winning out will put the Ironmen, WAIDH, & Topes in the playoffs. 4 wins would also work if Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan each lose once.
• In an interesting mathematical anomaly, Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan only need to lose 4 times to be eliminated. This is because all three play 2 of the Ironmen, WAIDH, & Topes (and before someone with even less of a life than I do comes in and mentions that the Topes are only in one of those games, specifically with the Scapegoats, both the Scapegoats & Topes play the X-Cats & Crushers, and come Week XIII, if the Topes have lost 4 and the Scapegoats have lost 3, at least one of the X-Cats & Crushers would've passed both of them; a side note, this also means that the Topes can not make the playoffs with 4 losses).
• X-Cats, Hitmen, & Crushers will be eliminated upon losing 4 times, or 3 losses and a single win from each of the Ironmen, WAIDH, & Topes. No calculus needed. ;)

You know, I went awfully deep into that 3-5 bracket for something that has a 50/50 chance of no longer being true after Monday... Anyhow, I'll be back sometime next week, where there's actually a chance that the top 8 could be separated from the next tier by two games, making my job fairly dull until playoffs...

Week IX Postgame Analysis
 

Thank god I faced the team with Brady the week he actually had to face a defense...

Rhode Island Drive (5-3) d. Team Jack (7-1)
70-57
Three backs versus three receivers. Who wins? Rhode Island's RBs. Actually, in a twist of irony, had Team Jack switched out one (or even all) of their receivers for the benched Maurice Jones-Drew, we wouldn't be having this conversation because Team Jack would be victorious, but you know what they say about hindsight. In fact, Team Jack's LenDale White outscored said receiving trio, Tom Brady was held to 14 points (I chuckle as I use the word "held" there; I suppose that's what happens when he has to face an actual defense), and their top score came from their kicker! On the other hand, I can't really praise the Drive for any single effort. Their top scores were Derek Anderson's 11 (another "held" situation) and Marion Barber's 10, but if you look down their scorecard, there is no score lower than 5. It's not the greatest conglomerative effort in the world, but it'll do.

Isotopes (4-4) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-6)
58-43
Woe is the X-Cats, fate binded to the Chargers. I don't really need to say more. Lynch's 18 and Welker's 11 made up the bulk of their score, wasted due to a lot of horrible gameplay from the rest of the roster (seriously, Travis Henry isn't worth it). There was only one more score above 3 for the X-Cats. The Isotopes came in with Reggie Bush's 17 & Earnest Graham's (who?) 13, backed up by half their remaining roster clearing 4. It's another unpretty win for the 'Topes.

The Stud Man Clan (3-5) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-4)
64-63
What am I doing here? You know, other than being stumped on how to analyze this game. I mean, looking at the big picture, this game was remarkably even. Both teams had three players score <3, both teams had a single large score and a single moderately high score (Moss & Bironas for the Clan, Portis & Tomlinson for WAIDH), both defenses were within 2 points of each other, and both teams had three more moderate scores (two on offense, one on defense). That last bullet point, though, is where the Clan manage to edge out WAIDH. Dallas, Davis, & Colston = slightly better than WAIDH's Ware, James, & Campbell. And remember people, you only need to win by 1.

Stevies Scapegoats (3-5) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-4)
111-63
The Ironmen had a 24 from Roethlisberger's excellent Monday nighter. Sadly, they needed a 73. That's because they were playing the Scapegoats, who are on an exciting surge as of late. The Goats were led by Jamal Lewis's 29 (hence the "held to" comment about Derek Anderson in the first game). Alone, it's very impressive, but add Detroit's 20, Glenn Holt's 15, Jon Kitna's 14, and four more players at or above 6, and it becomes godly (or god-awful, if you're Indiana). This is the simplest game I've had to analyze in weeks.

Silver Lobos (7-1) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-6)
87-72
Why is it that every time the Crushers play a good game, their opponent has to play better? All that's due to the Lobos trump card this week, an Adrian Peterson 30, in quite possibly the best game any rookie in the NFL has ever had. Talk about tough breaks, because Nor Cal outdid the Lobos everywhere else. Pittsburgh's 15, Westbrook's 14, and a 12 coming from the K spot were excellent contributions, and if you really wanted to find a fault, I guess you point out their three receivers combining for just 3 points. Maybe if they had performed, Nor Cal would've had a mondo upset. But alas, the Lobos remain the lone one-loss team.

Youngstown Hitmen (2-6) d. Dunedain (3-5)
87-68
Hello, high-scoring shootout. This game was about who's high scores were higher, and judging by the nineteen point difference in final scores, clearly, Youngstown was better. The Hitmen had a middle-offense composed of Leon Washington (13), Terrell Owens (15), Joshua Cribs (10), & Greg Jennings (17). On defense, they were sporting a 14 from Charles Woodson and a 10 from the New Orleans DEF. While Dunedain had the high score of this game, Joseph Addai's 18, the rest of their scores were relatively low. Three 10s came from Hasselbeck, Galloway, & Bodden, plus a 9 from Boley. If Dunedain had one more high score, maybe they would've had this game, but now both teams are 3-6.

FIRST Force (5-3) d. The XaulZans (5-3)
64-41
The XaulZans had Tony Romo and Jason Witten connecting for a combined 26. Not bad! But four 0s and nobody else clearing 5? Not good! FIRST Force had Palmer & Houshmandzadeh connecting for a combined 20. Still not bad, but Lee Evans adding 16 makes it even better. Combine that with only one 0 & four more people clearing 5, and it's all good.

x=Clinched Playoff Birth

Youngstown seems to think that they'll be feared as a playoff spoiler. I seem to think that that they'll be feared because they're only a game and 8 fantasy points out of eighth place. Speaking of which, it's time for the Playoff Picture:

• The Lobos are guaranteed a shot at defending their championship. Why do I say this and Yahoo doesn't? Well, it's complicated. See below.
• This also means that Jack is one game away from clinching. Again, see below.
• The Drive and Force need two wins. See below.
• Topes only need to win thrice to clinch. See below. Also, if they lose all of their last 4 games, they're eliminated. See last week's playoff picture for that one.
• The Zans, Scapegoats, Ironmen, WAIDH, & Clan will clinch if they win out. It's actually one big fustercluck (I pray none of the moderators are dyslexic) as it's mathematically impossible for more than three of these teams to win out, so see below. The Scapegoats & Clan would also be eliminated if they lose all of their last 4 games, for the same reason as the Topes.
• The Hitmen will be eliminated if they lose out. Simple!
• Dunedain, X-Cats, & Crushers will be directly eliminated if they lose three more games (Dunedain is here because due to last week's anomaly, they could only afford to lose 4 games, and they lost this week, bringing it down to 3).

Now, let's look at the schedule to clear everything up:

• (be forewarned, I was forced to go non-linear when it came to the timing of games in this bullet point; y'all may need to if you wish to follow, but even if you don't, rest assured, it's all correct) There are three games which clear up our mathematical flux above: Ironmen/Clan in Week X, WAIDH/Zans in Week XII, and Zans/Ironmen in Week XIII. Despite the Zans being a bracket higher than the other four teams they're tiered with, if they lose in both Weeks XII & XIII, they're guaranteed to fall into the current 3-6 bracket. But if the Zans win just one of those two games, it'll drop the respective loser into the current 3-6 bracket. Either way, Week X's Ironmen/Clan game knocks a second team down that 3-6 bracket, making a perfect chopping point right after eighth place. Now you're probably asking yourself what happens if the Ironmen lose both of those games and WAIDH wins in Week XII. We'd have four teams fighting for spots #6-8. That's where the Topes, Force, & Drive come in. The Topes have Force & Goats, Force has Topes & Drive, & Drive has Zans & Force. If it comes down to Topes/Goats or Drive/Zans, it means either the Topes or Drive have fallen 2 brackets (via their respective games versus Force). The Topes would need no further math (they'd fall into the current 3-6 bracket), but for the Drive, it would mean the Hitmen & Dunedain storming up and taking out either the Zans or WAIDH, or the Drive falling out completely (both the Drive & WAIDH have the Zans, Hitmen, & Dunedain, remembering the fact that the Zans would've lost one already, WAIDH would be undefeated, meaning those losses would drop at least one of them into the current 3-6 bracket, joining the Ironmen and completing the circle). Long story short, at least two teams are guaranteed to fall to the current 3-6 bracket with Dunedain & Hitmen, making it mathematically impossible for more than six of the current #3-#10 teams to clinch via the methods shown above. And in turn, that's what makes the methods shown above able to happen (and gives the Lobos the first playoff spot this season). Self-completing loops FTW!
• Another good one for you: If Dunedain and/or Hitmen win out, they'll be guaranteed to at least be fighting for seventh (check my last bullet point; at least two more teams will be falling to their bracket or lower because of all that mess if the Hitmen and/or Dunedain win out). They don't completely control their own fate in this situation though, because there's a possibility that up to four other teams could be tied with them, making it come down to fantasy points, and therefore meaning that even if they do win out, they could still miss the playoffs.
• The X-Cats and Crushers both have three teams in that big tangle up top. If they win out, they are far from done.
• Force & Drive in Week XIII looks exciting, seeing as linearly, it's the last game in my tangle up top. I'm fairly certain it's impossible for both teams to miss the playoffs, so it could be the biggest game of both team's seasons if they've gone 0-3 up until that point. Of course, it's possible that both their present courses stay the same, in which case, it'll still be a great game between two of the top 4 seeds. Or the Ironmen could win their Week XIII game against the Zans, undoing my tangle and making the playoffs very straightforward.
• While mathematically, anyone the top 10 can get the number one seed (don't get me started again), realistically, only the top 4 have a shot at it. The Lobos have the best shot, as they're both a game ahead of anyone else and leading in fantasy points. But Jack, Drive, & Force are all close enough in fantasy points that if the Lobos go 2-2 for the rest of the season, it's a virtual toss-up.

Um... I'm actually out of words after all that. And the funny thing is, if the Ironmen win this week, all those words will be for naught, as both of the Zans Week XII & Week XIII games would be enough to make that chopping point at #8.

I'm hungry. I'm tired. My head hurts. See you next week.

Week X Postgame Analysis
 

Lousy Rangers of the North...

Dunedain (3-6) d. Rhode Island Drive (6-3)
77-68
You'll notice that the Drive's usual powerhouse running game decided to keep their scoring on the lower end of the spectrum this week. Not a great start for them, and it'd stay that way. Dunedain outdid Rhode Island when they needed to: the Drive's Derek Anderson gets 14, Dunedain's Favre gets 20. Eric Wright got 14 for the Drive, Gibril Wilson and Mike Peterson both average 15.5 points on Dunedain's side. Rhode Island tries to come back on Monday night with a D.J Hackett 12, but Seattle shuts out the 49ers and equals that 12 for Dunedain. It was a clear and decisive win for Dunedain.

Stevies Scapegoats (4-5) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-7)
33-32
And on the other end of things are two teams that both seemed to not want to win. In fact, had the X-Cats not fielded a QB, they'd have won! And we all know about Travis Henry's troubles. Again, Marshawn Lynch's 14 alone is not going to cut it. The Scapegoats weren't much better. Going into Monday, they were still losing by 4, mostly thanks to Jamal Lewis's -2, and lack of any non-kicking offensive score above 4. But there were three 7s keeping them in the game, and the Scapegoats' two Seahawks scored the necessary 5 points between them on Monday Night Football to put them ahead. And just a bit of filler here: eight teams beat or equaled the combined score of this game, three of which were losing efforts. Says a lot about this game, huh?

Team Jack (7-2) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-5)
67-53
What am I doing here? I'm not even sure WAIDH was even here. There's three empty slots on their scorecard, and this was the week Jason Campbell breaks out for 13. LT even came through with 10 of his own, and Portis added 8 more. But then there's all... those... zeros... Team Jack has had better weeks, but they had some big scores from Maurice Jones-Drew (15), Hines Ward (14), & Drew Brees (10), and their defense was relatively decent enough to not be a factor. The answer to the question of what I'm doing here? I'm watching WAIDH lose their fifth straight.

Indiana Ironmen (4-5) d. The Stud Man Clan (4-5)
76-44
What am I doing here? I'm not even sure The Stud Man Clan was here. If you thought WAIDH was bad, there's five 0s on the Clan's scorecard, four from byes. There's that Derrick Johnson 15 waaaaayyyyy down at the bottom, but that was it. All the Ironmen had to do was breathe on the Clan to take them out (there's an iron lung joke there somewhere, but I'd rather not). And Roethlisberger's 24, Brackett's 17, & Dunn's 12 must've felt like a hurricane. This was exactly what Indiana needed to snap their three-game losing streak. So... many... zeros...

Nor Cal Crushers (2-7) d. Isotopes (5-4)
95-71
Now these are the Crushers we all know and love. While their defensive 16 wasn't much to be proud of, that just meant more points for their offense. Brian Westbrook hit the end-zone thrice and ended his day with 29 fantasy points, Roy Williams hit the end-zone twice for 14, Steven Jackson passed for a TD and ran for a TD, totaling 14, & Selvin Young made good of Travis Henry's (and the X-Cats') pain, rushing for a TD and breaking that 100-yard mark for 13 points. The 'Topes didn't play too bad themselves; they won the QB battle by 16 (Eli got picked twice for Nor Cal, McNabb, well, didn't), and Reggie Bush's 15 was impressive (even if he did lose). But it's faily obvious that while most of their scores were decent, there were no more scores of the caliber the Crushers put up this week. Now the important question is whether the Crushers can keep living up to their name.

FIRST Force (6-3) d. Silver Lobos (8-1)
56-52
Here's what happens when the top team in the league has their top two players fail miserably. We all know what happened to Adrian Peterson (injury; out for two weeks at least), and we all know what happened to Peyton Manning (six interceptions; that's 12 points subtracted from his total). Luckily, Reggie Wayne caught one of Manning's TD passes and a good portion of his yardage, giving the Lobos 16 points, but with abnormally low scores from the rest of the team, it just wasn't meant to be. FIRST Force played the "slow and steady" card this week. Their high score was Jeff Reed's 11, but six of their players scored 6 points or more, and all of their players scored at least two points. In this "every little bit counts" sitch, those lower scores ended up being the difference.

Youngstown Hitmen (3-6) d. The XaulZans (5-4)
87-65
For some odd reason, I'm chuckling at Adam Vinatieri's -4 in the Hitmen's K spot. But rest assured, Youngstown fans, that was the only bad thing to come the Hitmen's way. Everyone else on their roster scored at least 4 points, including T.O.'s 20, Joshua Cribbs's (again I say, who?) 18, Kurt Warner's 14 (I know, I'm just as shocked as the rest of you), & Chicago's 12 (and now I'm just speechless). The XaulZans, unfortunately, are in one of those losing skids where nothing seems to go right. They had some nice scores from Romo (18), Jacksonville (11), Berrian (10), & Crayton (9), but you've probably noticed that those scores were no equal to Youngstown's, and that there wasn't much in the way of backup for the Zans. So now the Hitmen have their first winning streak of the season. Can they keep it up?

x=Clinched Playoff Birth

We've got some teams trying to surge up from the bottom to take a playoff spot, and some teams that are falling out of secure positions. Playoff Picture:

• Team Jack does what I told them to do last week, and joins the Silver Lobos in the playoffs.
• Force is halfway there; one more win will clinch them a spot. Also, a single loss from all of the 4-6 teams will do it.
• Drive still need two wins to clinch. A win and a single loss from all of the 4-6 teams will work as well.
• Ironmen, Zans, Scapegoats, & Topes will clinch if they win out. Of course, it's impossible for more than two of them to do so, which leads us to...
• ...Dunedain & Hitmen will still have a shot at at least 7th if they win out. Again, not a guaranteed playoff birth, because there's a chance up to three more teams could be tied with them.
• And adding more fuel to the math fire, WAIDH will clinch a playoff spot if they win out. Um, see below. Again.
• The Clan will be directly eliminated if they lose out. It's the same thing from two weeks ago.
• The Crushers will be eliminated if they lose twice.
• The X-Cats will be eliminated if they lose one more time.
• As an aside, the Topes & Dunedain will be mathematically eliminated if they lose out, carrying over from the last two weeks.

More math!

• This week's mathematical quandaries are brought to you by the Ironmen/Zans & Scapegoats/Topes games, both in Week XIII. It's what allows the win-out scenario for WAIDH (two of the Ironmen, Zans, Scapegoats, & Topes will drop a bracket, and WAIDH has both Dunedain & Hitmen, so winning out would drop those two teams below WAIDH, meaning WAIDH would be guaranteed at least 8th), and allows Dunedain & Hitmen to have at least a shot at 7th (mostly because they're guaranteed to have two teams joining their bracket, but they can make their situation even better, depending on how said games turn out).
• Since I'm in that 4-6 bracket, the Clan have absolutely no games that help them, which is why they're singled out. They could feasibly go 3-0 and be stuck at 9th even before we take fantasy points into consideration. The good news for them is that they can eliminate the X-cats this week then possibly the Crushers next week, but their last game is against the Lobos, which other than adding a win to the W column (which is still important, mind you), doesn't do a whole lot to help them considering the Lobos have already clinched.
• The Crushers took out the Topes this past week. They now have the Scapegoats followed by the Clan. If they can take those two, they'll be in a rather large tangle for the last few playoff spots come Week XIII. A bit of bad news though: their Week XIII opponent is Team Jack.
• For the Ironmen, Zans, Scapegoats, & Topes, these next two weeks are going to be very important. A single loss opens up the door for up to four more teams to join you in your playoff hunt.
• The Force/Drive game in Week XIII doesn't look as good as it did last week (I mean, it was the game holding together that entire circle that got undone by the Ironmen beating the Clan last week, for crying out loud!), but it should still be a decent game played by two of the current top 4.
• And as I end every week, The Man Award (for the #1 seed) is mathematically available to the current top 8 teams, but realistically, I'll be handing it to one of the current top 3 (with an outside chance for the Drive). None of the top 3 play each other, so it's really anybody's ballgame.

I'll be back either Tuesday night or Wednesday for the Week XI postgame. Until then...

Week XI Postgame Analysis
 

Holmes retires, Williams returns, and I have my postgame done on a Wednesday... talk about your not-so-average weeks.

Rhode Island Drive (6-4) d. The XaulZans (5-5)
55-74
If you were watching the Cowboys play, then you know Tony Romo was going to be getting some points for the XaulZans and Marion Barber for the Drive wasn't. That was the only advantage in this matchup the Zans had though. The rest of the Rhode Island offense picked up the slack, including a respectable 10 from their QB, Derek Anderson. McGahee and Hackett both added 13, and Minnesota put up 10 against the Raiders. The only players for the Drive that scored less than 5 were the aforementioned Barber and a defenseman who was injured in the first quarter of his game. Not too shabby.

The Stud Man Clan (4-6) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-8)
81-35
The X-Cats had Rivers, Travis Henry, and San Diego (not to mention the injured Marshawn Lynch on the bench). The Clan had Randy Moss. Um... I'm out of words. Moss's 31 already won the game for the Clan (well, okay, not quite, but if the Clan lost this one with a 31, I'd be making a lot more noise about this match). That's not to say the rest of the team stood around a twiddled their thumbs. Jay Cutler pitched in his 12 and Bironas had 10. Plus, shades of the Drive, the Clan only had two players score less than 4. Talk about your routings...

Dunedain (4-6) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-6)
85-76
What am I doing here? I'm planning on assimilating both participants of this game for the heavy playoff ramifications (and therefore, more math for me) this game had. This was the closest game of the week and both teams played magnificently. Between the two rosters, only one player failed to score 5 points. So we're forced to go to the big scores, and this is where it becomes obvious who won. Favre (16), Stover (12), Addai (10), & Fitzgerald (10) for Dunedain were clearly better than WAIDH's Tomlinson (13), Green Bay (11), & Campbell (10). It's sorta sad, since this is the best game WAIDH has played since their losing streak began five weeks ago. But now Dunedain is well above that eighth place cutoff. Resistance is futile, and whatnot.

Team Jack (8-2) d. Indiana Ironmen (5-5)
84-64
The second victim of the Pats/Bills game was the Ironmen. Their opponents were the guys with Brady, and his 28 was a key factor in Team Jack's victory. The Giants DEF helped out with 15, and Maurice Jones-Drew's 10 and defender Roy Williams's 9 were also big factors. The Ironmen's offense just wasn't up to par. A Phil Dawson 14 was their high score (humorously, 9 of those came from the zebras getting that FG at the buzzer correct), and their only backing were Chris Cooley's 10 and Calvin Johnson's 8. The Indiana defense was a better match, but even with (irony FTW) New England's 12, they still scored lower than Team Jack's.

Nor Cal Crushers (3-7) d. Stevies Scapegoats (5-5)
73-62
Can you say "surge"? Because that's what the Crushers are doing at the moment. Conglomeration seems to be the theme this week as, shades of the Drive, Clan, Dunedain, & WAIDH, only one of Nor Cal's players missed the 5-point mark. They also had a solid backbone of Kirk Morrison (12), Josh Brown (12), & Eli Manning's 10. Nate Burleson had 12 and Jamal Lewis gave 11 points to the Scapegoats' cause after both playing so balefully last week, but while everybody scored, they lacked both the higher low-end scores that the Crushers had and another big score to give them the edge.

Silver Lobos (8-2) d. Isotopes (5-5)
70-46
Adrian Peterson gets injured, and the Lobos plop Chester Taylor in his place. Brilliant! After that fluke of a loss last week, Taylor's 25 was just what the doctor ordered, especially considering Peyton Manning was held to just a single point. And still, the 'Topes and McNabb lost that QB battle by 4! It doesn't get much better for the Isotopes either; their only scores worth mentioning were a 12 from Oakland and twin 9s from Santonio Holmes and Shayne Graham. The Lobos brought more to the table, including 13s from both Andre Johnson & Ellis Hobbs, plus a 7 from Indianapolis. Alright, so the rest of their scores were all under 4, but really, how much do you need to beat 46?

Youngstown Hitmen (4-6) d. FIRST Force (7-3)
103-69
FIRST Force really tried to win this game. McGee (12), Houshmandzadeh (11), & Jeff Reed (10) provided a solid backbone for a decent lower end of scoring. They even dominated on defense. So what went wrong? Well, the Force's two Monday Night Football players only put up 11 when they could've used another 40-ish. The game was basically insurmountable after Sunday thanks to the Youngstown offense. Said offense was led by Terrel Owens's four TDs and 34 fantasy points. But it didn't stop there. Going down the list of the non-RB offense: Joshua Cribbs put up 18, Kris Brown tallied 13 bananas- er, points, Kurt Warner had 12 in his much-needed win, and Greg Jennings humbly gave 8 points. For those of us keeping track, that was a combined 60 from the Hitmen's receiving corps. That's just ill. Fear the Hitmen.

x=Clinched Playoff Birth
z=Mathematically Eliminated

Koko! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

::ahem::

So yeah, we finally lost a team. Here's where everybody else stands in the Playoff Picture:

• Lobos & Jack are still waiting for teams to join them in the "birthed" club.
• Drive & Force are in on one win or tie, or if the Ironmen win or tie once. They're also in if one of the Hitmen or Clan lose or tie once.
• The Ironmen will clinch upon winning out. They are the only team in the 5-6 bracket capable of this directly.
• The rest of the 5-6 bracket (Dunedain, Zans, Hitmen, Clan, Scapegoats, & Topes) can clinch upon winning out if the Ironmen win or tie once, or if the Hitmen or clan lose a single game.
• The Crushers & WAIDH are out if they lose twice. There's also half a zillion ways they can be eliminated if they lose once.
• Still left over from three weeks ago, the Topes will be directly eliminated if they lose out as well.
• Oh my god, they killed Koko! Those [really bad people]! Sadly, Koko and his X-Cats won't be joining in on the postseason festivities. :(

Still two weeks left. Here's the specifics:

• So what makes the Ironmen special? They have two games that directly impact them: Week XII against Dunedain, and Week XIII against the Zans. If they win both, they've knocked two 5-6 teams down a bracket. If the Ironmen win one and lose one, then the Ironmen and the team they beat (i.e., two 5-6 trams) drop down a bracket. Either way, that puts the chopping block at nine. The other important game is the Topes/Scapegoats in Week XIV, in which one more team drops a bracket, putting the chopping block at eighth no matter the result. Note that I haven't mentioned what happens if the Ironmen lose out because no playoff dreams rely or die on that happening.
• Speaking of the Topes/Scapegoats Week XIII, if that game ties, the rest of the 5-6 bracket just needs to win out (though bear in mind the the previous bullet point means it's impossible for more than four of them to do so). It'll also put both the Drive & Force into the playoffs, regardless of what they do.
• I may as well point out that ties are as bad as losses at this stage, because it knocks both teams involved down half a game. With the currently seven teams straddling the eight/nine border (forgetting fantasy points for now), that half-game loss can knock someone in fifth all the way down to twelfth. Though strangely, it's Week XI, and there's been no ties yet!
• Obviously, it's now officially impossible for the Drive & Force to both miss the playoffs due to their Week XIII game. But I may as well tell both teams to get their playoff tickets ready now, because even if the Ironmen lose out, the Hitmen, Clan, Zans, Dunedain, & Scapegoats all win out, and both the Drive & Force lose in Week XII, the loser of Drive/Force match will easily get in on fantasy points (the lowest of the two, Force, currently has a 140 fantasy-point lead on the lowest of the mentioned 5-6 teams, Clan), and the winner will get in on record. This also means that one of the Drive or Force will be seeded third. Finally, if this game ties, both teams are in, and they'll be deciding both the #3 & #4 seeds among themselves.
• Crushers & WAIDH no longer directly control their fate. WAIDH can help their cause immensely by winning out because their two remaining opponents are the Zans & Hitmen, and even the Crushers have the Clan on their schedule, but it's far from a guarantee.
• Mathematically, the top 4 are able to claim the #1 seed, but let's face it, #1 & #2 will be decided amongst the Silver Lobos & Team Jack. Right now, the edge has to go to the Lobos due to their 64 point fantasy lead, but that's certainly not insurmountable within two weeks, and that only comes into play if both teams finish with the same record. Should be interesting.

And with that, I bid you adieu... for the next 14 hours or so. I'll be back before gametime tomorrow to do my annual Thanksgiving week pregame analysis. Then, turkey. Yay, turkey!

Week XII Pregame Analysis
 

Sadly, we're not in the parade (lousy Rockettes bumped us at the last minute), but that doesn't mean I still can't give my thoughts on this week's coming matchups. Unfortunately, no singing. Sorry. :p

x=Clinched Playoff Birth
z=Mathematically Eliminated

Rhode Island Drive (7-4) vs. Youngstown Hitmen (5-6)
Rhode Island's already strong offense has matchups against the Texans, Jets, Rams, & Chargers, which will most likely equal a lot of points. Youngstown has two places where it can take an advantage. First is if the Cowboys favor the passing game (i.e., T.O.) over the running game (i.e., Marion Barber), and second is on defense, where the Drive look a bit iffy this week while the Hitmen look quite solid.

What Am I Doing Here (4-7) vs. The XaulZans (5-6)
Well, someone's gotta win this one, right (though for irony, Yahoo has these two teams tied in their projections)? The XaulZans problem is they are heavily reliant on the Cowboys' passing game, so it's hit-or-miss for them. WAIDH's problem is that their three backs (Tomlinson, James, & Portis) aren't putting out big games together. Based on these faults, I'd say WAIDH has the advantage, but then again, the Cowboys are playing the Jets...

Indiana Ironmen (5-6) vs. Dunedain (5-6)
This is my official pick for Game of the Week, if only because it's the only matchup between that volatile 5-6 bracket. Both teams should be getting major pointage from their QBs (Roethlisberger against the Dolphins, Hasselbeck at the Rams), kicking will probably be even, and both defenses look solid (New England anchoring for the Ironmen, Seattle for Dunedain). Where this game will be won or lost is in the middle offense. Brandon Jacobs & Joseph Addai are going to easily outscore Warrick Dunn on Dunedain's behalf, but Indiana has Chad Johnson, Calvin Johnson, & Chris Cooley as their three receivers, and are not a force to be underestimated. Also, I'm biased, so go Ironmen! :D

Koko's X-Cats (2-9) vs. Team Jack (9-2)
You're probably saying "washout" right now. But this game is ripe for an upset. The Chargers have the demoralized Ravens (which means both Rivers & San Diego have a shot at putting up big points), Brady could very well favor Wes Welker (which would actually mean more points for the receiver than the QB), the X-Cats have Gostkowski, and Foster, Clark, & Lynch are all more than capable of putting up a big number. Obviously though, they have to outscore the very versatile Team Jack, who can get points in a number of ways. There's the aforementioned Brady, plus Maurice Jones-Drew has a porous Bills defense opposing him, and there's White, Ward, & Gates backing them up. I like the odds of an upset here (I'd say upwards of 50/50), but there's a good reason Team Jack is 9-2.

Nor Cal Crushers (4-7) vs. The Stud Man Clan (5-6)
This is not the week the Clan wants to face the Crushers, because barring another 20+ pointer from Randy Moss, the Nor Cal offense is primed to total the Clan's. Eli Manning, Roy Williams, and Steven Jackson could put this game out of reach early, and that's not even counting if Westbrook somehow manages to find a couple holes in the Patriots' defense (bearing in mind that with McNabb hurt, the running game will probably be more prominent in the Eagles' offense). The best chance for the Clan is Jay Cutler getting through the Bears and if their Patriot-biased defense actually does something.

Silver Lobos (9-2) vs. Stevies Scapegoats (5-6)
The Lobos have Peyton Manning & Reggie Wayne passing and catching all over the Falcons (lack of) defense, and Chester Taylor has been an exemplary replacement for Adrian Peterson. This is going to be a tough one for the the Scapegoats, but it's not completely hopeless. Kevin Curtis, Nate Burleson, & Torry Holt are a nifty little receiving trio, and if Jamal Lewis can run through the Texans, it's going to be close. And dare I say that the Scapegoats may have a slight edge on defense?

Isotopes (5-6) vs. FIRST Force (7-4)
Geez, it's like the battle over who's going to be injured less. The 'Topes really need both McNabb and Bush to play, or they'll be done quickly. On the cusp of the playoffs, FIRST Force has a couple worries with Houshmandzadeh and Coles, but Palmer and Parker both have matchups that should allow them some breathing room. If all else fails, Bulluck, McGee, & Edwards are a tight defensive, um, force for the Force.

There's three games today, the first of which starts in about a half-hour. Remember to gorge yourselves on turkey (or tofurkey, if that's your style), but save some room for your apple pie. :D I'll be back either Tuesday or Wednesday with me quoting myself in a postgame analysis, for once. Be safe, everyone. :)

Week XII Postgame Analysis
 

I'm not sure what I should lead off with this week: groaning at the fact that I left a Minnesota 20 on my bench, wondering why anyone would be stupid enough to kick to Devin Hester, or proclaiming how awesome that Monday Nighter was, even if it was a fantasy football manager's nightmare...

Rhode Island Drive (7-4) d. Youngstown Hitmen (5-6)
69-84
"Rhode Island's already strong offense has matchups against the Texans, Jets, Rams, & Chargers, which will most likely equal a lot of points." Anderson, Barber, Hackett & McGahee combined for 34. The Hitmen countered with 15 from Jennings, 11 from Warner, & 9 from Owens. With defenses and kicking relatively even, it came down to the guy who, for some odd reason, my biased self never factored in to my pregame analysis: Devin Hester. Yes, that Devin Hester. The Drive had him, and his 21 took this from a close game that could go either way to a very impressive playoff-clinching win for Rhode Island.

Team Jack (9-2) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-9)
75-59
Props to the X-Cats: they made this not a washout. Rivers & San Diego made mincemeat out of the Ravens for a combined 24, and even their trio of Clark, Welker, & Droughns all put up 8s. But their opponent was Team Jack, who had Gates's 16, Brady's 12, and what probably decided the game, a 16 from Jason Hanson in the K spot. As you know, the X-Cat's kicker, Gostkowski, didn't get a lot of chances to add points this week. And I suppose DeShaun Foster's -3 didn't help either...

The XaulZans (5-6) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-7)
74-54
What am I doing here? Yeah, I really didn't see a Frank Gore 22 coming either. But in a game where both teams desperately needed to stop their losing streaks, it was a very well-timed 22 for the XaulZans. Disregarding Gore, both teams were very even too. Defense was won by WAIDH by 2, Kaeding vs. Gould came out 14-13, Burress put up 10 for Romo's 9, and L.T. & Edgerrin James equaled Witten & Crayton. Which means Gore's 22 was the knockout blow to WAIDH's season.

Indiana Ironmen (5-6) d. Dunedain (5-6)
95-60
Incoming psychic point for me: "Where this game will be won or lost is in the middle offense." And this prediction was made before Dunedain had to pull Jacobs off the starting lineup (because let's face it, had Jacobs played, the Giants would've relied on their running game after the terrible day Eli was having) and Dunn was benched in favor of Andre Hall for the Ironmen. Who's he? Well, he had 13. "Indiana has Chad Johnson, Calvin Johnson, & Chris Cooley as their three receivers, and are not a force to be underestimated." The grammatically-incorrect ocho-cinco scored three times, and the other Johnson & Cooley both had 10 fantasy points. The best Dunedain could put up on offense was Addai's 8 (and for the record, Addai + Jacobs > Dunn this week :p). Where they did excel was on defense, winning by 12, but it was a moot point by then. Go Ironmen!

The Stud Man Clan (5-6) d. Nor Cal Crushers (4-7)
66-61
"The best chance for the Clan is Jay Cutler getting through the Bears..." To be fair, I didn't actually think it would happen. But in what was a very good Broncos/Bears game, Cutler came out with 14. Colston also had 10 for the Clan. "...and if their Patriot-biased defense actually does something." Actually, they held on, and that was the important part. Nor Cal only won defense by 4, and while Westbrook & Jackson both had 10, Eli Manning & Roy Willaims were both duds. Eli in particular picked a bad time to have an abysmal game, and the Crushers get knocked out of the playoffs as a result.

Silver Lobos (9-2) d. Stevies Scapegoats (5-6)
105-48
"The Lobos have Peyton Manning & Reggie Wayne passing and catching all over the Falcons (lack of) defense..." A combined 26 right there. "...and Chester Taylor has been an exemplary replacement for Adrian Peterson." He added 9 himself. One psychic point for Eddie! Plus 13 points from both Ryan Grant and Mason Crosby added to the Lobos' score. Stevies Scapegoats had Jamal Lewis against the Texans and 13 points, as well as a Nick Folk 10. "And dare I say that the Scapegoats may have a slight edge on defense?" Um, no. The Lobos defensive unit absolutely squashed the Scapegoats'. Patrick Willis led said unit with 18, and return man Ellis Hobbs had 11. That's minus one psychic point for Eddie...

FIRST Force (7-4) d. Isotopes (5-6)
63-51
"The 'Topes really need both McNabb and Bush to play, or they'll be done quickly." McNabb didn't play, and Bush didn't play well. It wasn't all bad; the tag-team duo of Kellen Winslow & Braylon Edwards combined for 21, and Earnest Graham put up 9 of his own. But: "If all else fails, Bulluck, McGee, & Edwards are a tight defensive, um, force for the Force." Forgetting my serious lack of judgment in writing that pun, Bulluck, McGee, & Edwards combined for 30. Brandon Marshall gave the Force 11 more and Carson Palmer had his way with the Texans for 16. It was indeed the "battle over who's going to be injured less", and FIRST Force comes out of it relatively unscathed and with a playoff birth.

x=Clinched Playoff Birth
z=Mathematically Eliminated

7 teams, 4 spots left. Playoff Picture:

• Lobos, Jack, Drive, & Force can sit back and do nothing this week waiting for the other half of the playoff spots to be taken.
• Ironmen, Zans, & Clan are win (or tie) and in. They're also in if Dunedain & Hitmen both lose or tie.
• Dunedain, Hitmen, Scapegoats, & Topes are out if they lose. They can tie, but they'd also need the other three teams in that bracket to tie or lose (so, um, don't tie).
• Crushers & WAIDH join the X-Cats as being eliminated. More on this below.

Lets go to the schedule:

• The Topes/Scapegoats game is what eliminates the Crushers & WAIDH, because even if that game ties, that's still the #8 spot at 5.5 wins. If said Topes/Scapegoats game ties, the Topes will be eliminated (they'd still have fewer fantasy points than the Scapegoats), and the Scapegoats would need Dunedain & Hitmen to lose. In fact, even the winner of this game would need Dunedain & Hitmen to lose, as there's a 120+ point difference right now.
• Ironmen face the Zans in Week XIII, and the winner is in. But I think the loser will be fine, as there are going to be three more teams left out, and even the Zans have at least 75 points currently on the Clan, Scapegoats, & Topes. The only problem comes if all three of the Clan, Dunedain, & Hitmen win, in which case the Zans would be in trouble (having to gain 45 points on the Hitmen), and the Ironmen would have to keep their fantasy score higher than Dunedain & Hitmen.
• The Clan are in a lot of trouble if they lose. If that happens, and both Dunedain & Hitmen win, as the Clan are 170+ points below them in fantasy points, the Clan would be out. Even the Scapegoats and Topes are close enough to easily knock the Clan out of eighth. So it's in the Clan's best interest to win.
• Chances are, the last couple spots will hinge on what Dunedain & Hitmen do. These two teams are 25 fantasy points apart from each other, so even upon winning, they'll have to fend off each other plus the loser of the Ironmen/Zans game. Obviously though, they're practically guaranteed a playoff spot if one of them wins and the other loses, as there's no way the winner of the Topes/Scapegoats game is going to overtake them in fantasy points.
• The Drive/Force game will decide the #3 & #4 seeds. If the Drive wins or the game ties, they'd get the #3 spot, else, it goes to the Force. Either way, they've still got a decent playoff position out of the deal.
• The #1 & #2 seeds are the Lobos' & Jack's to fight over. If both teams win, tie, or lose, the #1 seed goes to the Lobos (barring a 200-pointer from Team Jack). Prettymuch the only way for Team Jack to take #1 away from the Lobos is for them to win and the Lobos to lose or tie. Should be interesting.

The mathematical nightmare comes to an end finally! Next week, we'll have our 8 playoff teams. I'll be back before that darned NFL Network game next Thursday with the Week XIII postgame, plus a brief playoff analysis. See you then.

Week XIII Postgame Analysis
 

It's time to weed out three more teams.

Rhode Island Drive (8-4) d. FIRST Force (8-4)
66-34
You'd figure the game between the weekly #3 & #4 teams would be a bit more exciting. As it stands though, the only remotely exciting things for either team were on Rhode Island's side. Willis McGahee did wonders almost beating the Patriots, DeMeco Ryans had 11 tackles, Minnesota & Derek Anderson both put up 9, & Jerious Norwood came back with 8. FIRST Force's best score was Terrence McGee's 8. That's not going to cut it in Week XIII. Not like this game really meant anything...

Koko's X-Cats (2-10) d. Dunedain (5-7)
80-45
The X-Cats sure picked a heck of time to hit the 80-point mark again (note that in all 3 of their wins, the X-Cats broke 80). Dunedain really needed Favre this week, and he bombed with a -3. Their receiving duo of Galloway & Ginn Jr. combined for 18, but the usual staples of Addai & Fitzgerald stayed quiet. Dunedain's defense didn't add much either, with a combined 21 between them. San Diego had 17 for the X-Cats, and Jason Taylor gave 9 of his own. And that's just the defense. On offense, the X-Cats got 15 from Dallas Clark, 11 for their faith in Travis Henry, & 10 from Gostkowski. So what seemed like a gimme for Dunedain ends up eliminating them from the postseason. The best laid plans of mice and men... (get it? men, Dunedain... ::crickets chirp:: I'll be quiet now)

Youngstown Hitmen (5-7) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-8)
81-79
What am I doing here? I'm cheering on the Hitmen, because with Dunedain losing, Youngstown could take their playoff spot with a victory. And oh what a game this was for both sides. WAIDH had LT's 22 as the high score between these two, a 17 from D.J. Williams, and 10 from Gould in the K slot. The Hitmen kept close with T.O.'s 14, Julian Peterson's 12 (no relation), and 10s from both Kris Brown & Greg Jennings. But where this game was won (or lost, if you're WAIDH) was at quarterback. Kurt Warner won his game with 9 fantasy points for the Hitmen. Jason Campbell lost to the Bills and put a -1 next to his name on WAIDH's fantasy scorecard. It's tough to believe that WAIDH was once 4-1. It's even tougher to believe that Youngstown was once 2-6, and now playoff-bound.

The XaulZans (6-6) d. Indiana Ironmen (6-6)
82-45
This game was "win and in". Other than that though, this game was about as exciting as the Drive/Force game up top, only with higher scores. Scores such as a 13 from the Ironmen's Roethlisberger, a 21 from the Zans' Romo, and 14s put up by Patrick Crayton, Jarred Allen, & Antonio Cromartie... all for the Zans. The "win and in" team was obvious; the Zans secured their spot in the playoffs. With Dunedain losing though, the Ironmen are safe as well due to their high overall fantasy score.

Team Jack (10-2) d. Nor Cal Crushers (4-9)
71-60
Team Jack had Brady; Nor Cal had Eli. As far as I'm concerned, that was the game breaker. Oh sure, Team Jack had Ward's 17 and Jones-Drew's 10 compared to Nor Cal having Westbrook's 15 and Jackson's 13. Defenses were even. Kicking stayed low. And yet, we have this 12-point difference in the QB spot in Tom Brady's, and therefore, Team Jack's favor. In the grand scheme, this game didn't mean much, though it did keep Team Jack alive in their quest for the #1 seed...

Silver Lobos (10-2) d. The Stud Man Clan (6-6)
128-41
...Which immediately went out the window once the Silver Lobos put up the highest score of the season. I'm just going to run down the list quickly: there was Peyton Manning's 21, Adrian Peterson's (of the Vikings) 18, Patrick Willis's 17, 14s from Reggie Wayne & Brian Urlacher, a 13 from Mason Crosby, Andre Johnson's 12, Adrian Peterson's (of the Bears) 7, and the twin 6s from Ellis Hobbs & Indianapolis. I'm not even sure that was a complete sentence, but to reiterate: everybody scored at least 6 points and seven players were in double digits. The Clan had an 8 and a pair of 7s. And in a close playoff race, a 41 in the last week of the regular season is shaky ground to stand on, at best...

Stevies Scapegoats (5-7) d. Isotopes (5-7)
92-54
...And said shaky ground was about to crumble. If the 'Topes won with 56 or more points, they'd take the final playoff spot. If the Scapegoats won with 39 or more points, they'd take the final playoff spot. If neither of those happened, the Clan would take the final playoff spot. The Isotopes set a decent mark of 54; Braylon Edwards's 14 and Earnest Graham's 13 helped a lot, but I can't help but notice two zeros in important spots of their lineup. The Scapegoats had to hit a lower mark than the 'Topes, but they still had to win. All their scores were up on the offensive half of the scoreboard; there were 15s from Burleson & Folk, 13s from Curtis & Holt, a 10 from Jamal Lewis, and 8 from Kitna. Even without the defense, it's still more than the Isotopes' 54, and even more important, breaks the 39 mark they needed to move ahead of the Clan and into eighth place. Stevies Scapegoats: welcome to the playoffs!

x=Clinched Playoff Birth
y=Clinched #1 Seed
z=Mathematically Eliminated

Wow, those last three reviews look like one long run-on review. Anyhow, no more math! w00t! Our tangle of teams is finally undone, and we're down to 8. Which one will win at the Kamen Bowl? Here's a brief preview of the first round:

Silver Lobos (11-2) vs. Stevies Scapegoats (6-7)
This matchup happened two weeks ago, and the Lobos absolutely totaled the Scapegoats. The Lobos have been pretty dominant throughout the season, and I don't see that changing against a team with a losing record. Then again, #1 seeds are notorious for not making it out of the first round in this league...

FIRST Force (8-5) vs. The XaulZans (7-6)
The Force & Zans faced off in Week IX, with the Force getting the upper hand. The Force were never really in fear of missing the playoffs even then, but the Zans had to fight off a 5-game losing streak with wins in Week's XII & XIII to make it. While the Force has the edge, this one could go the way of the Zans' current "fighter's momentum".

Rhode Island Drive (9-4) vs. Youngstown Hitmen (6-7)
This is another rematch from Week XII, and while not as dominant as the first one, Rhode Island still took that game rather convincingly. Rhode Island has lost once in their last eight games, but to Youngstown's credit, they were as far back as 13th, and managed to go 4-1 in the last weeks of the regular season to make it into sixth place.

Team Jack (11-2) vs. Indiana Ironmen (6-7)
This match was previously fought in Week XII, and as the records indicate, Team Jack won. In fact, the Ironmen have a losing record in the second half of the season, including losing their regular-season finale and essentially "backing in" to the playoffs. Team Jack has lost once since Week I, putting even more pressure on Indiana.

This is a rather unusual playoffs as the bottom 4 are clearly separated from the top 4. But remember the old saying: "any given Sunday". I'll be back after this week's MNF game with a recap of the first round. Good luck to everyone still playing.

Re: FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!
 

Well, my Ironmen started off pretty strong but really fizzled out in the end.....I guess I will see you all next year. :) Thanks again for your awesome pre and post game match-ups and what not........and good luck to my dad's Lobos on trying to break the #1 seed curse. :p

Playoffs: Round I Postgame Analysis
 

My workload just cut in half!

Kamen Bowl Quarterfinals
Silver Lobos (#1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (#8)
93-76
A bit of history for those who don't keep track: the last two champions of the FIRST Robotics League are playing in these playoffs. The current defending champion, the Silver Lobos, had the #1 Seed, and it was well earned. But it didn't mean they got a free pass. In fact, the Scapegoats put up the fight of their lives. The majority of their scoring came from Marcus Trufant's 22, Jamal Lewis's 18, & Burleson's 11, but they still set a high enough mark that the Lobos had to earn their victory. And luckily for the Lobos, they had Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, & Indianapolis in that washout against the Ravens. All three combined for 48, and despite Adrian Peterson doing nothing, the Lobos still had Ryan Grant's 14 and Andre Johnson's 10 picking up the slack. This was an excellent game for both teams, but the #1 Seed defends their spot in the playoffs.

Kamen Bowl Quarterfinals
The XaulZans (#5) d. FIRST Force (#4)
78-49
FIRST Force is the second champion in the playoffs (they won it two years ago in 2005), but they didn't fare nearly as well as their counterparts above. Without Brandon Marshall's 18, the Force's scorecard is looking a little barren. On the other side of things, the XaulZans were the only lower seed in these quarterfinals to have a winning record, so this was probably the only matchup where the higher seed didn't have a clear advantage going into the game. As reliant as the Zans are on the Cowboy's passing game, this week, it only helped them; Romo & Witten combined for 26. Bernard Berrian tacked on 10 more. And the defensive 29 was the cherry on top of their victory-flavored sundae. Now, I'm generally not one to call a #5 beating a #4 an upset, but given how dominant the top 4 were in the second half of the season, I'll go ahead and say that this was a pretty nice upset by the Zans.

Kamen Bowl Quarterfinals
Rhode Island Drive (#3) d. Youngstown Hitmen (#6)
83-53
Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Drive look to take their first trip to the semi-finals. They had the Hitmen of Youngstown in their way. The Hitmen's efforts were mostly conglomerative in nature; six players broke the 5 mark, with their big score being David Garrard's 13. Rhode Island outdid that though, with seven players scoring more than 6 points, and big scores coming from Marion Barber (23) and Minnesota (17). It's clear who won this matchup, as Rhode Island takes their very first first-round victory.

Kamen Bowl Quarterfinals
Team Jack (#2) d. Indiana Ironmen (#7)
70-50
I'll be honest with you: I knew Team Jack was going to win this game the moment that no-name Steelers safety guaranteed a win. Why? Well, Team Jack has Tom Brady, and he made the Steelers pay for daring to state that they ever had a chance. That 24 was the high score amongst all players this week. Team Jack's other high score came from LenDale White's 13. The Ironmen "started off pretty strong but really fizzled out in the end" (quote courtesy of Kevyn himself). Nowhere was it more apparent than in this playoff game, where even the Ironmen's usually tight receiving corps couldn't muster up much of anything. They had a 14 from a defender and Roethlisberger would put up 8, but that was it, and that wouldn't do against a rather miffed Brady.

This is the first time that the top 3 all move on to the second round (heck, it's the first time both of the top 2 do so as well). The teams that didn't win have their own little sub-tournament for Bowl placing:

Stevies Scapegoats (#8) vs. FIRST Force (#4)
This game originally happened allllllllll the way back in Week I, where FIRST Force started off the season with a victory. FIRST Force was in that dominant top 4 until their loss last week, while the Scapegoats' only real fault in the playoffs was that they didn't do as well in the regular season, and were therefore relegated to playing the Lobos in the first round. If the Force get back to the way they were the majority of the second-half, this game is easily theirs. However, if they leave a door open for the Scapegoats, I can the Goats stepping through it.

Youngstown Hitmen (#6) vs. Indiana Ironmen (#7)
This game originally happened allllllllll the way back in Week I, where Indiana started off the season with a victory. Woah... déjà vu... Anyhow, as two teams with losing records, you almost expected them to wind up in this game. If we were going by recent records, I'd hand this one to the Hitmen (having only lost twice to Rhode Island in the past six weeks), but then again, the Ironmen are the one losing-record team in the playoffs that really didn't have to worry about making the top 8 since about Week XI.

The winner of these two games will face off in the Kamen Bowl Championship V:

Silver Lobos (#1) vs. The XaulZans (#5)
The Lobos and Zans first faced off in Week III, where the Lobos started off a seven game winning streak. The best hope I can give the Zans is that all of their offensive players have favorable matchups this week, but even if they all perform optimally, it still may not be enough to overcome the dominant Lobos.

Rhode Island Drive (#3) vs. Team Jack (#2)
Rhode Island won this game back in Week IX, but that was a victory with caveats. First, Team Jack had Maurice Jones-Drew on their bench for some odd reason, and second, Brady had to face an actual defense that week (the Colts, for the record). The only thing separating these two teams in the standings is the Drive starting off the season with a losing streak, and both teams have shown the capability to put up big scores when they need to. This is probably going to be the game of the week, because it could truly go either way.

Um, go Jets? :p In a few days, our bowl games will be decided. Who will move on to the championship? Nobody knows, but seriously, where would the fun be if we did? See you all next week.

Playoffs: Round II Postgame Analysis
 

It's just a little snow. How bad can it be?

McBride Bowl Qualification
FIRST Force (#4) d. Stevies Scapegoats (#8)
50-44
Of all the times to get two negative scores, the Scapegoats had to do it here. Long story short, they had the Detroit DEF and Tavaris Jackson (and in an ironic twist of fate, had they switched out Jackson for the Lions' Jon Kitna, they'd have won by 2). The rest of Scapegoats defense held their own with a pair of nines, and Jamal Lewis racked up a lot of yardage in freezing cold Buffalo (not the last we'll talk about that game, BTW), but that combined -8 took away any chance of winning. FIRST Force had their third sub-par game in as many weeks, but they at least had a 10 from Carson Palmer. The Scapegoats' negatives allowed the Force to win defense by 6, and the Force offense kept pace. While their relatively low score left a door open for the Scapegoats, the Scapegoats couldn't quite step through.

McBride Bowl Qualification
Youngstown Hitmen (#6) d. Indiana Ironmen (#7)
63-59
This game, like the one above it, needed to wait until Monday Night Football for a resolution. In the meantime, the Hitmen had David Garrard's excellent first half against the Steelers giving them 13. The Ironmen had Ben Roethlisberger's excellent second half against the Jaguars giving them 14. Youngstown also had the services of Leon Washington (10) and Oshiomogho Atogwe (12; I'll admit, I caved and just copy & pasted his name), but found the rest of their middle-offense lacking. Indiana had the services of New England (16) and a Calvin Johnson 7, but found themselves in possession of a Warrick Dunn -2. Nonetheless, the Ironmen were leading after Sunday. But while the Bears offense, um, sucked, their defense on Monday night was pretty darn good. The Hitmen only needed 7 to win (since the Ironmen held the highest applicable tiebreaker); they got 10. If you were looking for suspense, that was it.

Kamen Bowl Semifinals
Silver Lobos (#1) d. The XaulZans (#5)
87-57
I suppose technically, this game was also decided on Monday, but it was really just a test to see if the Lobos could possibly bomb with both Adrian Peterson (of the Vikings; gotta clarify these days) and Brian Urlacher. They didn't. In fact, they piled on 33 more points. The Lobos also had a 17 from Mason Crosby and a 10 from Andre Johnson. The Zans actually looked pretty good themselves on Sunday, getting 15 from Kaeding and 14 from Cromartie. Unfortunately, going into Monday, they were down by 6 and only had E.J. Henderson and Bernard Berrian left to try and steal a win. They didn't. This game was closer than the final score indicated, but the Lobos are still the ones going to the Kamen Bowl.

Kamen Bowl Semifinals
Rhode Island Drive (#3) d. Team Jack (#2)
42-34
I really called this the game of the week in my preview, didn't I? I'm not alone; Yahoo called this one 76-71 in Rhode Island's favor. It didn't quite happen that way. Remember that Browns/Bills game I mentioned up top? Well, it held the Drive's Derek Anderson to a measly 2 points. Team Jack's Tom Brady, the main reason they've made it this far, did even worse! His snow/sleet/really bad weather game in Foxboro kept him with a grand total of 0 fantasy points this week. Team Jack only had one player score a TD. That was Hines Ward, who only added 7. The Drive had zero players hitting the end-zone, but did manage a fumble recovery from Marion Barber and a 100+ yard game from McGahee. Their high score was London Fletcher and his 8. We were actually all knotted up at 34 after all of Sunday's games, but Rhode Island had two players going on Monday night (Devin Hester and the Minnesota DEF), and there was virtually a snowball's chance (a little winter weather humor there ;)) that they'd both combine for 0 or less. I was right in that this game could truly go either way (case in point, Rhode Island won), but this was as ugly scoring wise as all those snowy games this week. Talk about your victories with caveats... Nonetheless, the win is all that matters in the playoffs, and this means the Drive will meet the Lobos in the championship.

Here they are, the last games of the season:

Patterson Bowl (from snowy Ralph Wilson Stadium)
Stevies Scapegoats (#8) vs. Indiana Ironmen (#7)
In Week IX, Stevies Scapegoats (there really should be an apostrophe there, BTW) totaled the Ironmen in what would be their biggest win of the season. I don't see this one being quite as lopsided as the first one, as this one may be decided by the QBs alone. The game starts Thursday night with the Ironmen's Roethlisberger, and ends Sunday night with the Scapegoats' Tavaris Jackson. Whoever does better will give a huge advantage to their team, and a good chance of taking this bowl game.

McBride Bowl (from sunny Candlestick Park)
FIRST Force (#4) vs. Youngstown Hitmen (#6)
In Week XI, the Youngstown Hitmen totaled the Force in what would be their biggest win of the season. The Force have lost three games since then, while the Hitmen only lost twice to the same finals-bound team. The Force is going to need to step up on defense, as the Hitmen have offense covered. If the Force can get back to the way they were before the playoffs, they'll win, but like their previous game against the Scapegoats, they can't hold the door open for the Hitmen, because Youngstown will step through.

Murphy Bowl (from cloudy Gillette Stadium)
The XaulZans (#5) vs. Team Jack (#2)
Smack-dab at the midpoint of the regular season (Week VII), there was a game between Team Jack & The XaulZans that ended in a lopsided victory with a palindromic score for Team Jack. That loss for the Zans kicked off a five-game losing skid that almost knocked them out of the playoffs. Team Jack's only three losses this season came to the two teams in the championship. And they have Brady. Attempting to make history. Against the Dolphins. On a relatively clear day. Yikes. I'm not saying the Zans can't win, but they need Brady to be Team Jack's only good score, and they need moderate scores from all their own players. No pressure, huh?

Kamen Bowl Championship V (from sunny cloudy snowy really, really cold Manchester Stadium)
Silver Lobos (#1) vs. Rhode Island Drive (#3)
This is what everybody has been playing for since Week I. Who will win the Kamen Bowl? Well, these two teams faced off in Week V, with the Lobos winning. But that was a long time ago, and both teams have lost exactly once since then. Rhode Island made it this far by being consistent. The Lobos made it this far by being dominant. I won't delude myself here: if both teams play the way they've been playing all season, the Lobos will successfully defend their title. Rhode Island has one key edge though: half of the Lobos lineup is, in real life, playing for nothing. The Drive have a bunch of players on their roster still fighting for their futures. And who knows? The Packers may just be stupid enough to kick to Devin Hester :D. There's a good reason the Lobos are the #1 seed, but that doesn't mean they're guaranteed the title.

If rosters stay the way they are currently, after Sunday night, we'll have a champion. Will the dominant Lobos hang on to become the first two-time champ? Or will the commissioner find a breach in the armor and claim victory? Who will win the other three bowl games? Tune in next week for the final postgame analysis to the 2007 FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League season.