Yay, Bus! Boo, everything else on my team! Though I would’ve won had I switched out one of my defenders…
QC Elite (0-4) d. Rhode Island Voltaic (4-0)
52-46
Yep, you did indeed read that right. The last place team did in fact beat the first place team.
“Peyton Manning could outscore the Elite all by himself this week.” And so begins Rhode Island’s problems; that didn’t even nearly happen. The star QB only put up 4. It wouldn’t get any better. The only good thing coming out this for the Voltaic is that the Bus will provide a nice second RB for them in the coming weeks (he scored 8 on Monday). To the opponent’s credit, while RI really fell apart this week, the Elite brought their A-game. Their QB was even worse, but Tatum Bell, Sheldon Brown, and Josh Brown easily compensated, going for 18, 17, and 13, respectively. That was almost all of their scoring, but it was enough. I believe this qualifies as an upset.
The Tacoites (1-3) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-2)
65-36
“The X-Cats roster has been ravaged by byes but their spots have been filled in…” Which means we already know that the X-Cats aren’t at full strength. Their score only helped prove that, with Scobee’s 16 and McGahee’s 10 their only relatively decent performances. And this was a week in which Brady actually scored for the Tacoites, giving 15. Their entire defense was an impressive 23 from Indianapolis, and the WRs combined for 16, giving the Tacoites a convincing win.
Nor Cal Crushers (3-1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (1-3)
69-58
This game was probably closer that it should’ve been. What’s the theme for the Scapegoats this week? Their scoring was provided by people who I’ve never heard of. Who the heck is Matt Schaub? Apparently, he’s Mike Vick’s replacement, and he scored 20. I could say the same thing about Cato June’s 18, or Nate Kaeding’s 10. But if you’re a Nor Cal fan (I know I am), it didn’t matter. The appropriately-named Crushers played as they usually do. Thomlinson and Smith again led their charge, combining for 29. They also busted out their defense, combining in that field for 30. Despite having yet another negative score from the K spot, the rest of Nor Cal’s offense scored enough to win their forth straight.
Dunedain (1-3) d. Pelan's Bobcats (1-3)
58-56
Looking at the Bobcat’s roster, you’ll easily notice one thing: no QB. Trent Green had the week off. True, they had Shaun Alexander and his 17, plus a defensive 23. But that one bye positively ended them going against Dunedain’s offense. That’s 11 from Boldin, 10 from Cooley, and 12 from Bryant. They also had a QB playing, gathering up 6 well-needed points. A lucky break for Dunedain, who actually have a winning streak now
.
FIRSTforce (4-0) d. hurricanes (1-3)
46-37
It was time for a different force to take the field this week: FIRSTforce’s defense. 29 points came out of that. Plus a Rackers 8, they really didn’t need offense against the struggling Canes. The Cane’s best scores came from the K spot (Lindell with 8), and triple 6s (one short of a jackpot
) in the defensive slots. But again, they didn’t have any offense. FIRSTforce is able to notch their fifth straight because of that.
Team THRUST (3-1) d. sigmakittens (2-2)
65-63
“Marc Bulger [THRUST]
and Jake Delhomme [kitties]
could put up big points for their respective teams, but Team THRUST has Stephen Davis while the kitties have his backup DeShaun Foster. That is a pretty significant disadvantage.” Holy psychic points, Ed! You called it perfectly. In what was IMO the game of the week, Bulger and Delhomme indeed scored well (11 and 10, respectively). They both had extremely good support. The Sigmakittens had Martin, Glenn, and Bironas, while THRUST had Holt, Vilma, and the Cleveland DEF. The difference: THRUST had Steven Davis score 8. The kitties had his backup DeShaun Foster score 1. It was the advantage Team THRUST needed to win.
Cooney Quest (2-2) d. Feisty Klowns (2-2)
68-60
Behold the Green Bay dependency! The Quest became practically reliant on the Packers this week, and they didn’t disappoint. Favre had 15, Davenport scored 14, and Longwell tallied 10. The 14 from Buffalo only helped. On the Klowns side of the scoreboard, they had big days from Barnett, Jones, and James (16, 14, 10). But the lack of a middle offense put this one firmly in Cooney’s bag.
Jc's Evil Empire (1-3) d. IwillCrushYou (2-2)
71-63
This was yet another excellent game. Bledsoe, in his hit-or-miss season, scored a hit and 16 points for the Empire. Troy Vincent and Steven Jackson both added 12. The support they got from their two receivers (19 points combined) only helped. Meanwhile, IWCY countered with Matt Hasselbeck putting up 13, Larry Fitzgerald scoring 12, and Robert Ferguson’s 10. Their support was a defensive 21. Unfortunately, you can see that as the game goes on, IWCY’s scores get progressively lower, until they just can’t keep up. Both teams now stand at 2-3.
Your Ad Here (4-0) d. Akshar Did It (3-1)
51-43
This was not a good week for ADI, period. Yeah, Roethlisberger (not the spellchecker’s best friend, BTW) put up 10. But he went down toward the end of his game. And Sproles and Houshmandzadeh (hello, spellchecker crash) were already hurt. This made it so that YAH (too…many… acronyms!) had to try to lose. And as much as they tried, they just couldn’t. Steve McNair’s 17 was their high score, with their next best coming form Kyle Vanden Bosch (spellchecker explodes) scoring 9. Both teams’ average score was in the toilet, but YAH had more high scores than ADI, keeping them undefeated. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need a new computer
.
west coast style (1-3) d. Coco's Monkeys (2-2)
60-31
This was not exactly the game the Monkeys were hoping for. They had almost no defensive scoring, and overall had two -1s, a bye, and nothing breaking double digits on their scorecard. WCS was prepared to take advantage of this with dual 10s from Leftwich and Bennett and a 13 from Donnie Edwards. That, and actual defensive scoring put this game out of reach for the Monkeys.
Code:
Rank Team W-L-T Pct Pts Streak
1. Your Ad Here 5-0-0 1.000 284 W-5
2. FIRSTforce 5-0-0 1.000 271 W-5
3. Nor Cal Crushers 4-1-0 .800 376 W-4
4. Team THRUST 4-1-0 .800 311 W-2
5. Rhode Island Voltaic 4-1-0 .800 298 L-1
6. Cooney Quest 3-2-0 .600 231 W-1
7. Akshar Did It 3-2-0 .600 209 L-2
8. Koko's X-Cats 2-3-0 .400 289 L-1
9. west coast style 2-3-0 .400 288 W-1
10. Dunedain 2-3-0 .400 278 W-2
11. Feisty Klowns 2-3-0 .400 257 L-1
12. Jc's Evil Empire 2-3-0 .400 247 W-1
13. The Tacoites 2-3-0 .400 243 W-1
14. sigmakittens 2-3-0 .400 236 L-1
15. IwillCrushYou 2-3-0 .400 232 L-3
16. Coco's Monkeys 2-3-0 .400 194 L-1
17. Stevies Scapegoats 1-4-0 .200 256 L-2
18. Pelan's Bobcats 1-4-0 .200 227 L-2
19. hurricanes 1-4-0 .200 209 L-2
20. QC Elite 1-4-0 .200 170 W-1
In a rather bizarre week of upsets, teams with an edge not holding it, fantasy studs performing like waterboys (Manning, I'm looking at you), injuries, and a couple bye-ravaged teams, the scoreboard is a mess. What I'm looking at is the fact that all the 4-1 teams and two of the 2-3 teams have higher fantasy scores than both of the undefeated teams. Also, 6 of the 2-3 teams have better scores than both the 3-2 teams. Really exciting analysis for the playoffs... if the playoffs were even remotely close. Right now, it ain't pretty, and it will probably stay that way looking at next week's schedule (though in two weeks, it should become less of a mess). Will the undefeated teams hold on despite low fantasy scores? See you next week.