Yeah… if you all would just skip over that first review…
sigmakittens (3-4) d. Rhode Island Voltaic (5-2)
62-24
I don’t have anything to quote this week, but I’m pretty sure Ed would’ve said something along the lines of “Rhode Island is screwed.” They went into the game running their second string offense due to byes, and a hurt defense, and- okay, I’ll stop making excuses. The Voltaic didn’t inhale audibly; they outright sucked. Their best scores were twin 7s from Hall and Kasay. Moving away from that embarrassment: two of the kitties defensive players (Oakland and Mathis) would’ve beaten RI themselves (with 15 and 13 respectively). Add a Jake Delhomme 17 for insurance (like they even needed it), and the Sigmakittens move to .500 quite easily.
Koko's X-Cats (3-3-1) d. Pelan's Bobcats (1-6)
53-52
An interesting stat for you: coming into this game, the Bobcats had lost each of their last three games by exactly two points. So for a team in the basement, they are putting up excellent fights. They started off with Antonio Gates’s 25 and Trent Green’s 10. They followed up with… absolutely nothing. This allowed the X-Cats some breathing room. A 10 from the K spot and dual 12s from Schobel and Jordan wouldn’t be enough. However, that Kerry Collins 13 pushed them just enough to get that win.
Nor Cal Crushers (6-1) d. hurricanes (2-5)
85-44
Even I could’ve predicted this one. The Canes had almost no offense and only 17 from their defense this week. But I want to get to the spectacular stuff. Namely, the appropriately named Crushers. Defense: combined 23. Westbrook: 10. Steve Smith: 17. But what topped it was Jake Plummer’s 22. Nor Cal easily remains in first place.
The Tacoites (3-4) d. QC Elite (1-6)
68-59
Did the Tacoites really just win this game with a “middle of the pack” receiver (Moulds, 13)), a kicker (Feely, 19), and Dallas (obviously Dallas, 14)? To be fair, they got good support from the rest of the offense, who all scored at least 4. The Elite keep trying to pull out of the basement. And for a moment, it looked like they could, what with a combined 27 from their RBs. Unfortunately, beyond the Giants’ very nice 20, there was almost no support (god knows the rest of the offense didn’t give any). So we go back to the beginning, where the Tacoites did indeed win with a “middle of the pack” receiver, a kicker, and Dallas.
west coast style (2-5) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-4-1)
49-48
Talk about horrible luck: the Scapegoats' Culpepper got injured early, and contributed a big donut. While excellent defense (a combined 27) and Joey Galloway (13) tried to compensate, they fell a point short. Ouch. While not as great on defense (still a decent combined 20), WCS was able to offset this With a Terrell Owens 14 and 9 from Leftwich. This week’s game left the Scapegoats in a world of hurt.
Feisty Klowns (4-3) d. Dunedain (3-4)
54-51
If you start at the top of the scoreboards, it looked like Dunedain was going to win. A 15 from Drew Brees, a 16 from Tiki Barber, and everything looks great. But then again, that’s why there are four quarters in a game, and seven other roster spots on the scorecard. Seven other roster spots where only one player broke 3. The 13 from Palmer, the 12 from Cincinnati, and the 10 from Janikowski started the Klowns with game of catch-up. Luckily for them, with three other players breaking 4, they were just able to pull past the now slumping Dunedain.
Jc's Evil Empire (4-3) d. FIRSTforce (6-1)
46-40
Well, I can’t say I saw this coming. Doesn’t help that this was another case of a QB getting hurt for FIRSTforce (though McCown’s injury wasn’t season ending). It probably doesn’t help either that their receivers did next-to-nothing. In fact, their only good score was Mike Anderson’s 12. The Empire’s Kevin Curtis equaled that, Danny Clark added 9, and Steven Jackson took the top score with 15. That’s four straight for the Evil Empire.
Akshar Did It (3-3-1) d. Team THRUST (4-3)
56-52
Lets look at the defense: ADI had one (and a good one at that, combining for 28). They also had the spellchecker smashers Roethlisberger (9) and Houshmandzadeh (10). Team Thrust had Stephen Davis tally 14 and Jeremiah Trotter add 10. But remember in my mid-season awards when I said that Team THRUST would’ve won Most Dominating Defense if they weren’t stuck with Minnesota as their DEF? Guess who cost them the game with -5? Yep, Minnesota. This tough break is what gives Team THRUST their third straight loss.
Coco's Monkeys (3-4) d. Cooney Quest (4-3)
73-29
*Double takes at the team with the lowest fantasy score breaking 70* Okay, apparently I did see that right. Going down the list of contributions: Corey Dillon had 15, both Heath Miller and Mike Peterson scored 12, Kennison took 11, Urlacher put up 9, Baltimore tallied 7, and Carney contributed 6. That’s conglomeration, no matter how you try to slice it. But what’s even more amazing then the Monkeys winning is that their opponents still lost (you’ll recall a comment in my mid-year analysis stating that the Monkeys don’t win; their opponents lose). Cooney had the unfortunate pain of relying on Green Bay, and this week, it absolutely killed them. With their only decent score being Branch’s 11, it was easily a game the Monkeys WON (capitalized for emphasis

). Both teams now sit at 4-4.
Your Ad Here (6-1) d. IwillCrushYou (3-3-1)
35-25
Byes and injuries are the story of this game. Lack of a QB and a hurt kicker just killed IWCY. And YAH again attempted to lose with four players playing hurt. Key word there though is playing. Playing=scoring (except in Rhode Island’s case

). And Scoring generally equals winning. I really can’t tell who lost this game, but score wise, YAH still manages to keep their place in the top tier.
Code:
Rank Team W-L-T Pct Pts Streak Change
1. Nor Cal Crushers 7-1-0 .875 591 W-7 ±0
2. Your Ad Here 7-1-0 .875 389 W-2 +1
3. FIRSTforce 6-2-0 .750 425 L-2 -1
4. Rhode Island Voltaic 5-3-0 .625 443 L-2 ±0
5. Feisty Klowns 5-3-0 .625 430 W-3 +1
6. Jc's Evil Empire 5-3-0 .625 399 W-4 +1
7. Koko's X-Cats 4-3-1 .563 480 W-2 +2
8. Akshar Did It 4-3-1 .563 348 W-1 +3
9. Team THRUST 4-4-0 .500 449 L-3 -4
10. sigmakittens 4-4-0 .500 421 W-2 +3
11. The Tacoites 4-4-0 .500 404 W-1 +3
12. Cooney Quest 4-4-0 .500 344 L-1 -4
13. Coco's Monkeys 4-4-0 .500 322 W-1 +2
14. IwillCrushYou 3-4-1 .438 360 L-1 -4
15. west coast style 3-5-0 .375 433 W-1 +2
16. Dunedain 3-5-0 .375 421 L-2 -4
17. Stevies Scapegoats 2-5-1 .313 432 L-1 -1
18. hurricanes 2-6-0 .250 344 L-1 ±0
19. Pelan's Bobcats 1-7-0 .125 382 L-5 ±0
20. QC Elite 1-7-0 .125 340 L-3 ±0
I think I'll take a sec to laugh at the fact that the Tacoites have reclaimed their coveted 11 spot

. Not much else to comment on. No one is eliminated, and we may actually have a playoff race that goes below the .500 mark. One fact holds though: every win counts.
Catch you next week.