One of these weeks, I’ll actually get the postgame out before Friday…
Rhode Island Dynamic (6-3) d. Stevies Scapegoats (3-6)
67-61
Uh, did Brett Favre just score 15 for the Scapegoats and take the high score of a match that had Peyton Maning? Not that it mattered: the rest of their offense didn’t show up (this game was over Sunday anyway; Galloway’s 6 on Monday only made it look close). The defense combined for a respectable 26, but that was only peanuts compared to Rhode Island’s 32. The Dynamic had no one score that stood out, but six of their players scored at least 8 points, and all but one player cleared 4 (that one player being Reggie Brown, lousy NFL scorekeepers taking away the 1 point he originally got
). So despite Peyton Maning having an off day and actually losing the QB battle, Rhode Island still scores enough to win.
Koko's X-Cats (5-4) d. Indiana Ironmen (5-4)
84-79
This game was FAR better than that Dynamic/Scapegoats game
. However, as close as this game was, I still think the X-Cats had this one all the way. The big score here was the Ironmen’s Chad Johnson with 26, and that’s what made them look good (that, and Brady’s 12). But the X-Cats were even better.
“The X-Cats of course rely on Larry Johnson but now have a revenge minded Steve McNair going up against his old team.” Quoth Khan, revenge is a dish best served cold. McNair scored 16 in one of the best games this week, and LJ tallied 9. Then the X-Cats’ Monday night defense struck, with Julius Peppers and the Carolina DEF adding 26 to their score. In what was probably the fantasy game of the week, the X-Cats storm forward to a 6-4 record.
Evil Trav's Minions (6-3) d. Cooney Quest (2-6-1)
72-61
As if beating up on poor Cooney Quest wasn’t enough, the Minions were still adding points to their score three days after the Monday nighter had ended. I use the term “poor”, because in what seems like a recurring theme, they just can’t catch a break. I know I say it a lot about this team, but it’s true. This week, it was facing a really strong opponent who really needed to stop a small losing skid, and it was Mike Vick underperforming for the second week in a row. Cooney also has a problem of having great conglomeration (six players all scored at least 6), but no big scores to back them. Enough about Cooney. The Eagles broke a three game losing streak themselves, and Donovan McNabb was a prime benefactor of that, giving the Minions 14 points (even if 6 of those were tacked by the NFL yesterday). Frank Gore matched that as well. And their conglomeration was slightly better than Cooney’s with seven players all clearing 7. It’s the story of Cooney’s season, really.
Eat My Shorts (5-4) d. RPI10 (3-6)
87-49
I’m noticing three big scores on RPI’s side: Gibril Wilson and Dave Rayner both with 11, and 10 from Rudi Johnson. I’m also noticing a -5 from Eli Manning. So I took a gaze over to EMS’s scorecard, where I immediately see three big scores (actually two big scores and a REALLY big score): 32 from LaDanian Tomlinson, 15 from McAllister, and 13 from Stallworth. I also noticed a positive 5 from Brad Johnson.
“Eat My Shorts will ride LaDanian Tomlinson obviously, but the catalyst of victory may come from what Deuce McAllister does in Pittsburgh and what Brad Johnson does at home against the Packers.” Ed called it perfectly.
Cromer Smash! (2-6-1) d. T-Hawks (6-2-1)
72-60
For those of us keeping score, Cromer Smash’s Willie Parker has scored a combined 52 points the past three weeks (his tally was 23 this week). That’s more than he got in the entire first half. He was joined by twin 10s from Delhomme and Drummond, and their three defensive players totaled 19 points. Rivers’s 19, Steve Smith’s 14, and Marion Barber’s 9 actually gave the T-Hawks a slight edge on offense, but their defense dropped the ball, only totaling 6. This is the T-Hawk’s first loss since Week IV.
Nor Cal Crushers (7-2) d. stantheman (8-1)
66-51
I’m saying it up front: Nor Cal got lucky. Believe it or not, they had an off week this week. The ONLY reason they won was Terrence McGee and his 23 points. But I do have to be a bit impartial here; STM could’ve done better. STM is one of three teams to not have a single game score below 50 (the other two being the Minions and Dynamic), but they only have one game score above 62. They’ve stayed up top because generally, their opponent scores lower than them. But obviously, that wasn’t the case here. David Gerrard scored -2 in the QB slot (Leftwich, where?), which only made things worse. And other than Ward’s 10 and Chicago’s 11, their roster felt a bit underwhelming. Had it played out like a normal week, by all means, STM would have won. But it wasn’t a normal week (as you can tell by {} winning this week
), and that one huge score by the Crushers did them in.
{} (3-6) d. FIRST Force (3-5-1)
58-50
How has Murphy’s Something-or-Others (it’s 2am, you try putting any thought into a name that’ll only last one review) been doing so well these past weeks? Well I’ll tell you one thing, it’s not due to their choices for the QB spot. Roethlisberger had 17 more points than Losman, and MSoO had Losman in the lineup. The good news is that they had a killer receiving game this week, with Driver and Colston combining for 26. The other good news (unless you’re FIRST Force) is that the only score worth mentioning of their opponents’ was Tony Romo’s 15 (go Cowboys!). So MSoO has won their third straight; is the end of days truly upon us?
Silver Lobos (5-4) d. sigmakittens (1-8)
50-42
Ugh, it’s too late to have to describe a bleh game like this. Keeping in mind that the Sigmakittens have only cleared 50 twice, 50 seems like a nice, round number to aim for. Carson Palmer (18) and Maurice Jones-Drew (10) did most of the work for the Lobos this week. The rest of their offensive scoring I can count on my fingers. Their defense at least scored enough for me to need a third hand to count it (or possibly a foot). But their score added up to 50, and against the Sigmakittens, that’s enough for victory.
The Very Fast Blitz (3-6) d. Meatball Artists (5-4)
45-43
Addai, Owens, Westbrook, Gonzalez, Vanderjagt. That is the Blitz’s offense (because Marc Brunell inhaled audibly and put up a big donut). It’s a pretty effective offense too, with all of them combining for 41 points. Their defense was terrible, but the Artists' only score above 6 was Steven Jackson’s 12, so they actually didn’t need it this week. They take their second straight win in a squeaker (and that’s with three Es).
Boilers 1529 (3-6) d. Amazin' Blue (7-2)
56-48
“For a 7-2 team Amazin' Blue's roster does not seem all that scary.” I actually agree here, because even though they were in third place, they had the eleventh highest fantasy score over the course of nine weeks. Keep in mind though that you only have to win by 1. That was not the case for Amazin’ Blue this week. Their best score was Michael Turner (who?) with 10. While not quite as good in the running game, the Boilers turned up the heat (sorry, had to say it) with their receiving game, defense, and Drew Brees (he led this entire game with 12). So instead of the Blue winning by a small margin, it’s the Boilers who put that one in their win column.
Code:
Rank Team W-L-T Pct. Pts. Streak F.Rank Change
1. Nor Cal Crushers 8-2-0 .800 699.00 W-2 2 +1
2. stantheman 8-2-0 .800 598.00 L-1 7 -1
3. Rhode Island Dynamic 7-3-0 .700 709.00 W-4 1 +2
4. Evil Trav's Minions 7-3-0 .700 672.00 W-1 3 +2
5. Amazin' Blue 7-3-0 .700 522.00 L-2 13 -2
6. T-Hawks 6-3-1 .650 602.00 L-1 5 -2
7. Koko's X-Cats 6-4-0 .600 628.00 W-3 4 ±0
8. Silver Lobos 6-4-0 .600 591.00 W-1 8 ±0
9. Eat My Shorts 6-4-0 .600 564.00 W-1 9 +1
10. Indiana Ironmen 5-5-0 .500 602.00 L-2 5 -1
11. Meatball Artists 5-5-0 .500 481.00 L-1 18 ±0
12. Boilers 1529 4-6-0 .400 519.00 W-1 14 +1
13. {} 4-6-0 .400 492.00 W-3 17 +3
14. The Very Fast Blitz 4-6-0 .400 455.00 W-2 19 +3
15. FIRST Force 3-6-1 .350 536.00 L-4 10 -3
16. Cromer Smash! 3-6-1 .350 502.00 W-1 15 +3
17. Stevies Scapegoats 3-7-0 .300 524.00 L-1 12 -4
18. RPI10 3-7-0 .300 497.00 L-1 16 -3
19. Cooney Quest 2-7-1 .250 534.00 L-2 11 -1
20.z sigmakittens 1-9-0 .100 449.00 L-3 20 ±0
z=Mathematically Eliminated
A lot of good scoring games this week. In fact, only five teams scored below 50 this week, and the lowest score was only 42.
Playoff Picture: Yeah, y'all are going to have to wait until tomor- er, later today for that. I need my sleep.
