Ugh, Reggie Wayne with a 13 from my bench...
Rhode Island Dynamic (3-3) d. RPI10 (2-4)
85-48
“Another battle of the Manning brothers. Peyton has no running game so for his team to survive he has to succeed. Against the Redskins slacking D his chances are pretty good which is probably the Dynamics best shot at winning…” If the Peyton/Eli battle was any indication, Rhode Island absolutely creamed RPI. The Manning battle went to Peyton 23-9. Corey Dillon/Rudi Johnson also went to the Dynamic 14-6. Then Rhode Island took the receiving game. Then they took the kicking game. Then they took defense. Then they dominated the battle of the benches. It was all Rhode Island this week in a much-needed win.
T-Hawks (4-2) d. Koko's X-Cats (3-3)
71-69
Now THIS is how Monday-nighters should decide games (not like last week’s disaster). In this case, it was Dallas’s (well, mostly Tony Romo’s) ability to throw interceptions, letting the Giants DEF get 19 points for the T-Hawks. You see, the X-Cats had a decent lead after Sunday, mostly thanks to Larry Johnson’s 20. But they also had Drew Bledsoe on Monday, who only got 6. Now, we don’t know for sure if the X-Cats still would’ve won had the Tuna kept Bledsoe in (for all we know, it could’ve been worse), but it’s this analyst’s opinion that the X-Cat’s got shafted. Not to take anything away from the T-Hawks, who fought back tenaciously on Monday to win.
Nor Cal Crushers (5-1) d. Cooney Quest (2-4)
73-62
Props to Cooney for holding to the same conglomeration it had last week (all but two players cleared 4). They even had a solid 18 from Michael Vick to lead them. Their problem was that they were facing the Crushers. Nor Cal somehow got 12 from David Carr, and when that happens, you know they can just do no wrong. Darrell Jackson added 14, Kevin Jones also had 12, and their three Ds combined for 28. So while Cooney played their best game of the season, the Crushers were better this week.
Eat My Shorts (3-3) d. Cromer Smash! (2-3-1)
29-28
Holy close games! Yes, I’m overselling the excitement on this game. Actually, this one was rather dramatic, even if it was pitifully low-scoring. In fact, had this game been all positive points, the Smash would’ve won. They had 10 from Gerald Hayes, 8 from Janikowski, and 5 from Pennington. EMS only had Tomlinson’s 13 and Brad Johnson’s 7. Here comes the drama: Washington had -2 points. That cost Cromer the win. Ed pinpointed the rest accurately:
“[Willie] Parker may find the Falcons defense is much harder to penetrate.” A fumble and low yardage gave Cromer a -1 from him. That gave them the loss.
Evil Trav's Minions (5-1) d. FIRST Force (3-2-1)
89-54
Both teams looked like they were playing the same game here: get as many high scores as possible. This is great for the Minions, as it’s essentially their game. Though I do give credit to the Force for trying. On offense, they had a Harrington 15 and a Randy Moss 13. I could also count the rest of the offensive scoring on one hand. Their defense was also decent with a combined 23. But back comes the Minions and their big scores, including Ronde Barber getting 27 and winning the defensive battle on his own. The offense seemed lackluster in comparison, and that’s counting McNabb’s 16, Furrey’s 12, Andersen’s 10 (go, Morten!), and Gabriel’s 8. Okay, I could also count the rest of their offense on one had, but I’m essentially grasping at straws here, as the Minions won this shortly after I said McNabb.
Silver Lobos (3-3) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-2)
85-44
You’d figure with Tom Brady scoring 11 for the Ironmen that their stock was looking good this week (Brady, believe it or not, usually doesn’t provide high fantasy points; great leader, not-so-great stats). Unfortunately, that was their only score worth mentioning. Meanwhile, the Lobos were playing hard and scoring big. Their scores worth mentioning included (but not limited to) Marvin Harrison’s 15, triple 12s from Palmer, Vinatieri, and Andre Johnson, a 10 from Cato June, and Maurice Jones-Drew’s 9. Both teams now stand at 4-3.
The Very Fast Blitz (1-5) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-4)
65-47
“The sins of non roster management have claimed another victim. Witness the Very Fast Blitz. Now everyone give them your sympathy followed by stern disapproval.
” I tried giving them my sympathy and pity, but it turns out, they didn’t need it (though for the record, I’m fairly certain we’re in ‘non playing team’ territory here). The Blitz’s DEF, Minnesota, pulled in 14. Westbrook, Brunell, and Owens combined for 45. The Scapegoats were also too busy showing pity for the Blitz, because other than Denver’s 12 and Huard’s 9, they forgot to score. The Blitz had a combination a few high scores and an underplaying opponent to get to their second win.
Amazin' Blue (5-1) d. {} (1-5)
31-21
And we once again get to learn of the woes that are Murphy’s Mathletes. Losman gave them an unceremonious -5. Roethlisberger had 13, but was on the bench. Had the Mathletes switched QBs, they’d have won. Misnomer, perhaps? Irony, at the least. And even worse, Roethlisberger may be hurt and lose some playing time. I’m prettymuch eating up space here, because there isn’t anything else to talk about. Amazin’ Blue had 9 from Houshmandzadeh and their K, and an 8 from Justin Miller. It was enough to beat the Mathletes, and I guess that W is what counts.
sigmakittens (0-6) d. Boilers 1529 (2-4)
86-41
Did the Sigmakittens just score 86? They had Alge Crumpler, you say. He had 24? Okay then. Being a completist, I should also mention the combined 41 from their three Ds (Woodson, Rossum, and Trotter). The Boilers had 10 each from Dunn and Feely, but that was half their score. It was the Sigmakittens moment to win (as opposed to last week), and they took it.
stantheman (5-1) d. Meatball Artists (3-3)
62-31
The only reason this game looks exciting is because of Hines Ward’s 27 for STM. But beyond that, there wasn’t much. The Artists had New England’s 11 and Cartwright’s 8. STM had Ward’s albeit impressive 27, plus two 9s from Gates and Sims. It’s obvious who won this match, even if it was quite dull.
Code:
Rank Team W-L-T Pct. Pts. Streak F.Rank Change
1. Evil Trav's Minions 6-1-0 .857 497.00 W-3 1 +1
2. Nor Cal Crushers 6-1-0 .857 484.00 W-3 3 -1
3. stantheman 6-1-0 .857 409.00 W-1 6 +1
4. Amazin' Blue 6-1-0 .857 389.00 W-6 9 -1
5. T-Hawks 5-2-0 .714 424.00 W-3 4 ±0
6. Rhode Island Dynamic 4-3-0 .571 491.00 W-1 2 +2
7. Silver Lobos 4-3-0 .571 423.00 W-1 5 +3
8. Indiana Ironmen 4-3-0 .571 383.00 L-1 10 -2
9. Eat My Shorts 4-3-0 .571 377.00 W-3 11 ±0
10. FIRST Force 3-3-1 .500 391.00 L-1 8 -3
11. Koko's X-Cats 3-4-0 .429 398.00 L-2 7 ±0
12. Boilers 1529 3-4-0 .429 342.00 L-1 15 ±0
13. Meatball Artists 3-4-0 .429 310.00 L-1 19 ±0
14. Cromer Smash! 2-4-1 .357 349.00 L-1 13 ±0
15. Cooney Quest 2-5-0 .286 354.00 L-4 12 +1
16. Stevies Scapegoats 2-5-0 .286 347.00 L-4 14 -1
17. RPI10 2-5-0 .286 339.00 L-5 16 ±0
18. The Very Fast Blitz 2-5-0 .286 316.00 W-1 18 +1
19. sigmakittens 1-6-0 .143 322.00 W-1 17 +1
20. {} 1-6-0 .143 285.00 L-3 20 -2
Wow, not much jumping this week. Anyway, I'll have the first half analysis and awards in the next couple days, so stay tuned.