Who'd have thought that one Monday night game could cause so much chaos?
T-Hawks (3-2) d. Rhode Island Dynamic (3-2)
96-68
You might notice something missing from Rhode Island’s lineup: Peyton Manning. Not that him playing would have done the Dynamic any good (ok, they’d most likely be in the lead for fantasy points). Despite some excellent team effort (all but one player cleared 5) led by Reggie Brown’s 19, they had the unfortunate situation of having the T-Hawks as their opponent. It goes simply like this: Joe Horn and Steve Smith combine for 34, Phillip Rivers adds 15, Troy Polamalu scores 13, and Ray Lewis has 12. Their only unfortunate situation was the Kansas City DEF’s -2. Literally no one could touch the T-Hawks this week.
Nor Cal Crushers (4-1) d. Koko's X-Cats (3-2)
83-52
Let’s ignore, for the moment, the fact that Nor Cal was fielding David Carr and his -2; That Crusher offense was NASTY (and I mean that in a good way). Clinton Portis, Anquan Boldin, Kevin Jones, and Darrell Jackson all combined for 51. From four players. THAT’S INSANE! The X-Cats had Bledsoe’s 11. While certainly good this week, their only other decent offensive score was Larry Johnson’s 8. They kept up on defense, but the game was already decided by the offenses.
Cromer Smash! (1-3-1) d. Cooney Quest (2-3)
82-51
“The Smash are looking for a big bounce back from Chad Pennington, and Willie Parker to cut through the improved Chiefs defense.” I’d call 11 a nice bounce-back. And Willie Parker just ate the Chiefs alive, taking them for 15. And those two weren’t even the most impressive scores from the smash; that honor belongs to Coles (18) and Branch (15). Defense was a non-factor in this game, which is where Cooney very well could’ve taken the Smash. Now I’ll give the Quest credit: all but two players on Cooney scored at least five. But while I’m all for team effort (see Rhode Island a couple reviews up), they had no big score to lead the way, so the Smash basically overpowered them for the win.
Eat My Shorts (2-3) d. stantheman (5-0)
73-60
In its four year existence, the FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football league has never had an undefeated team at the end of the regular season. So basically, STM was due to lose any moment. This was that moment. I wonder if it has anything to do with Tomlinson scoring 30 for EMS… That highly unexpected score is definitely what gave them the win. I mean, despite a missing QB and a might-as-well-be-missing RB, STM played pretty well. Gates, Ward, and Carney combined for 26, and the defense combined for 29. But EMS was already half way to victory with Tomlinson. They kept pace on defense with 21, and Kasay’s 11 sealed the deal. And down goes the last of the undefeated.
FIRST Force (2-2-1) d. RPI10 (2-3)
67-26
I still don’t get how RPI has lost four in a row. They’ve fallen fourteen spots in the process. I only say this because RPI has a good team on paper. That, and I’m trying to fill up space, because RPI had nothing going for them again. Quoth the Ed:
“If RP110’s Eli Manning or Rudi Johnson have any kind of a big day it's over quick.” And that’s how it should be. The problem is it hasn’t happened all season. The Force could’ve won with just their defensive 38. The 11 from the K spot just made them look good. Whereas RPI has essentially Dunedained (YES, I found an excuse to use that one again!).
Evil Trav's Minions (4-1) d. Silver Lobos (3-2)
53-32
The Lobos looked a lot like the Cardinals on Monday Night Football this week. Which is ironic, because it was Rex Grossman who cost them the game. This match was even going into Monday night. The Minions had McNabb (10) and Barber (13), while the Lobos had a nice defense (25 combined). But then that fateful Monday nighter happened. Grossman had six turnovers, giving him a -12 (which has got to be the biggest bomb ever). I dare say that this game would have turned out extremely different had the Bears offense actually done something (other than singles for tackles, which Davis having four of for the Minions is so wrong). But as it stands, this game was just like the Bears/Cardinals game, with the Lobos on the losing end.
Indiana Ironmen (3-2) d. The Very Fast Blitz (1-4)
54-39
The Blitz had T.O. with 20. The Blitz also had no defense, making that 20 go to waste. Two 9s from the Ironmen’s Heap and Gradkowski, a 12 from Kaeding, and a defense that scored 21 more points than the inappropriately-named Blitz’s were more than enough to secure victory.
Amazin' Blue (4-1) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-3)
82-72
This was the game of the week… at least until Monday night came along to deliver a disappointing end. We were tied at 73 going into that game. The Scapegoats had three 11s from Maurice Hicks, Josh Brown, and Denver, plus a 15 from Roy Williams. Amazin’ Blue countered with Pittsburgh’s 11, Houshmandzadeh’s 12, and Holt’s 26. But on Monday Night, the Scapegoats got a grand total of -1 from Edgerrin James. The Blue got a 9 from Leinart (the good QB in that game). That was the difference. The Scapegoats unfortunately caught a tough break this week (lousy Monday Night Game…).
Boilers 1529 (1-4) d. {} (1-4)
59-50
Hmm… ever think Murphy’s Byes would’ve been better off playing Roethlisberger this week? Though Roethlisberger’s 5 point edge over Losman wouldn’t have been enough, had the Byes not lived up to their namesake and actually had a defensive backup or two, they probably would’ve won this one. But lets talk about the good things: the Boilers had 14 points from both Brees and Dunn, plus another 10 from Chris McAlister and 9 from Feely. The Byes had Ronnie Brown’s 13, plus two donuts from the defense because they don’t have any defensive backups. While I do feel like I’m repeating myself here, it’s worth repeating, because those two byes are what cost the Byes the game.
Meatball Artists (2-3) d. sigmakittens (0-5)
55-29
In its four year existence, the FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football league has never had a winless team at the end of the regular season. So basically, the Sigmakittens were due to win any moment. This was not that moment. Again, we have another team with defensive byes, and no backups to put in. Actually, we have two teams, as the Artists were in the same sitch. But then again, they also had an offense. Bulger had 18, and Jackson had 10. Do the math.
Code:
Rank Team W-L-T Pct. Pts. Streak F.Rank Change
1. Nor Cal Crushers 5-1-0 .833 411.00 W-2 1 +2
2. Evil Trav's Minions 5-1-0 .833 408.00 W-2 2 ±0
3. Amazin' Blue 5-1-0 .833 358.00 W-5 4 +1
4. stantheman 5-1-0 .833 347.00 L-1 7 -3
5. T-Hawks 4-2-0 .667 353.00 W-2 5 +4
6. Indiana Ironmen 4-2-0 .667 339.00 W-1 8 +1
7. FIRST Force 3-2-1 .583 337.00 W-1 10 +3
8. Rhode Island Dynamic 3-3-0 .500 406.00 L-2 3 -3
9. Eat My Shorts 3-3-0 .500 348.00 W-2 6 +2
10. Silver Lobos 3-3-0 .500 338.00 L-1 9 -4
11. Koko's X-Cats 3-3-0 .500 329.00 L-1 11 -3
12. Boilers 1529 3-3-0 .500 301.00 W-3 13 +1
13. Meatball Artists 3-3-0 .500 279.00 W-3 17 +3
14. Cromer Smash! 2-3-1 .417 321.00 W-1 12 +3
15. Stevies Scapegoats 2-4-0 .333 300.00 L-3 14 ±0
16. Cooney Quest 2-4-0 .333 292.00 L-3 15 -2
17. RPI10 2-4-0 .333 291.00 L-4 16 -5
18. {} 1-5-0 .167 264.00 L-2 18 ±0
19. The Very Fast Blitz 1-5-0 .167 251.00 L-2 19 ±0
20. sigmakittens 0-6-0 .000 236.00 L-6 20 ±0
Okay, I know I'm biased when I ask this, but does anyone else find it odd that Rhode Island is 5 points off the fantasy point lead and in the .500 bracket? Anywho, I'll be back early next week with the Week VII postgame analysis, then around Thursday-Friday (possibly Saturday if I'm running late), you'll see the first half analysis and awards. So I'll catch you all next week.