FIRST Robotics Fantasy Football League 2007!

[Koko Ed]

The FIRST Robotics League

Rank  	        Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	Silver Lobos 	        5-1-0 	.833 	483 	W-4 	1 	±0
2. 	The XaulZans 	        5-1-0 	.833 	414 	W-3 	6 	+1
3. 	Team Jack 	        5-1-0 	.833 	396 	W-5 	7 	+1
4. 	Indiana Ironmen 	4-2-0 	.667 	432 	W-2 	4 	+2
5. 	What Am I Doing Here 	4-2-0 	.667 	431 	L-1 	5 	-3
6. 	FIRST Force 	        3-3-0 	.500 	450 	L-2 	2 	-1
7. 	Rhode Island Drive 	3-3-0 	.500 	443 	W-1 	3 	+1
8. 	Dunedain 	        2-4-0 	.333 	391 	L-1 	8 	-1
9. 	Youngstown Hitmen 	2-4-0 	.333 	370 	L-1 	9 	±0
10. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	2-4-0 	.333 	355 	L-3 	10 	±0
11. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	2-4-0 	.333 	338 	W-1 	12 	+2
12. 	The Stud Man Clan 	2-4-0 	.333 	323 	L-3 	13 	-1
13. 	Isotopes 	        2-4-0 	.333 	317 	L-3 	14 	-1
14. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        1-5-0 	.167 	348 	W-1 	11 	±0

Koko's X-Cats (1-5) vs. Nor Cal Crushers (2-4)
The X-Cats finally break through to the win column and in order to make a return visit they need people like Chad Pennington and Marshawn Lynch to take it up a notch. The disappointing Crushers look to Eli Manning and Brian Westbrook to help right the ship.

Stevies Scapegoats (2-4) vs. Rhode Island Drive (3-3)
The Drive are hoping to get alot out of their three headed back attack of Norwood, Barber III and especially McGahee against his old team the Bills. None of them have really lit the league on fire as of yet but there is possibilities of them breaking through. The Scapegoats need a big game from Larry Johnson and for Daunte Culpepper not to kill them.

Isotopes (2-4)vs. What Am I Doing Here (4-2)
WAIDH is also going with a three back attack with Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis and Warrick Dunn while the Isotopes have Reggie Bush. Thus they're going to need a big game from Donovan McNabb.

Indiana Ironmen (4-2) vs. Silver Lobos (5-1)
The Lobos are looking to Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson to pave the way. Both have tough assignments this week and may see their points production hindered. The Ironmen want a big game from Ben Roethlisberger but their ace in the hole is the New England Patriots defense making tuna out of the Miami Dolphins.

The Stud Man Clan (2-4)vs. Youngstown Hitmen (2-4)
The Clan are looking for big games from Shaun Alexander and Ronnie Brown because who knows what they are going to get from Jay Cutler (at least one interception is a good bet). The Hitmen got the steadier young quarterback in Jason Campbell but only have Lamont Jordan running the ball.

The XaulZans (5-1) vs.
Team Jack (5-1)
The game if the week.
While Team Jack is well armed with tom Brady on their side Lendale White and Cedric Benson don't exactly breed confidence. XaulZans got it a bit better with Frank Gore and Thomas Jones on their side. If Tony Romo can get it going the XualZans could steal this game.

FIRST Force (3-3)vs. Dunedain (2-4)
FIRST Force is looking for strong games from Carson Palmer, T.J.Houshmandzadeh and Willie Parker. Dunedain needs Joseph Addia to somehow break through against the Jaguars and Matt Hasselback to play a strong game as well.

[EddieMcD]

Good thing I didn't promise that this postgame analysis would be early...

Rhode Island Drive (3-3) d. Stevies Scapegoats (2-4)
108-55
Who's to blame for the Scapegoats losing (get it? scapegoats, blame... oh, never mind)? Not Larry Johnson and the Detroit DEF; they scored 13 and 10, respectively. No, it was the rest of the team that was to blame. Way too many scores on the lower end of single-digit territory. Though even if the rest of the team did step up, they faced the Rhode Island Drive's second triple-digit score in as many weeks. Now, I'm going to mark out for the Drive for a moment here (and I swear it's not because I'm biased): RHODE ISLAND HAD 7 PLAYERS IN DOUBLE DIGITS!!! Among that crowd are the Washington DEF, McGahee, Brees (quarterback by committee FTW!) Barber III, & Akers. Special mention goes to DeMeco Ryans's 25 and London Fletcher's 20. For those of us paying attention, that's a combined 62 on defense, and that's barely half their total! Yowza.

Koko's X-Cats (1-5) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-4)
91-60
Hey, Pennington was actually useful! And by useful, I mean his 21 points were the main reason the X-Cats have a winning streak going. Wes Welker hitting the end-zone twice helped, as did the pair of 10s put up by Marshawn Lynch and Jason Taylor. On the flip side though, is the Crushers' losing streak. They just haven't been able to catch a break. This week, they had respectable performances from Josh Brown and Jericho Cotchery, but Westbrook and Williams were quiet, and the Nor Cal defense was held to under 20 fantasy points. So, as previously mentioned, the X-Cats now have a winning streak. w00t!

Isotopes (2-4) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-2)
57-53
What am I doing here? Well I'm not saying great things about WAIDH's running game this week, that's for sure. It was Portis and Robbie Gould doing the heavy lifting this week for WAIDH, but it seemed like nobody else on the offense wanted to do even light lifting. The defense did some light lifting, but that was all it was: light. Alright, it was slightly heavier than the Isotopes' defense, but the 'Topes at least backed up Anquan Boldin and Reggie Bush with Santonio Holmes and Donovan McNabb. With things like 0s in their QB slot, it's no wonder WAIDH got edged out.

Silver Lobos (5-1) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-2)
95-62
This matchup seems oddly familiar... Anyhow, surprisingly, the Roethlisberger/Peyton Manning battle went Roethisberger's way. But while the Ironmen won that battle, the Lobos decidedly took the war. The afforementioned Manning held his own with 14, and he was complemented by Burleson's 16, Tennessee's 11, & Kevin Jones's 10. This is all extra to the fact that nine of the Lobos' ten players scored 7 or more, and even at the minimum, the Ironmen have already lost by 1. This is because Roethlisberger's 16 wasn't that great, there are no other scores in double digits, and half the single-digit scorers for the Ironmen were on the low end. This result seems oddly familiar too...

The Stud Man Clan (2-4) d. Youngstown Hitmen (2-4)
72-63
It's a real good-news, bad-news situation for the Stud Man Clan. First the good news: Cutler, of all people, tallied 14, Randy Moss was his usual self, scoring 19, Dallas tacked on 12, and the rest of the Clan defense wasn't slacking. Then the bad news: Neil Rackers actually subtracted points from their total, and the Clan lost Ronnie Brown to the IR. I suppose we can do the same analysis for the Hitmen: the good news is that TO, Leon Washington, & Roddy White (who?) combined for 35. The bad news was, well, just about everything else, including a -1 from Jason Campbell in the QB spot. The Clan got the better of the good news, but will their bad news kill their future?

Team Jack (5-1) d. The XaulZans (5-1)
95-59
Holy palindromic scores, Batman! Long story short, Team Jack had Tom Brady squishing the fish and taking in 32 fantasy points. That's halfway to the win right there. The other half was provided by the Giants' DEF 18, Maurice Jones-Drew's 16, & LenDale White's 13. The rest was just gravy. The totaled XaulZans were stuck relying on Mike Nugent's 11 and Jared Allen's 12. Not exactly fear-inspiring, is it?

FIRST Force (3-3) d. Dunedain (2-4)
77-71
A Seattle 23: that's what keeps Dunedain from being completely blown out. Because despite only a six-point difference in the final score, this game wasn't even close. I'm not really knocking Dunedain; if it means anything, FIRST Force's win was quite ugly in and of itself. Their usual scorers, Palmer, Parker, & Houshmandzadeh (talk about a law firm that uses too much ink on its letterhead) were kept in the upper single-digits. It fell upon Laveranues Coles's 19 to be the cornerstone of their victory. The defense pitched in as well, with Keith Bulluck and Terrence McGee combining for 23. Dunedain really only had Seattle's 23. Brandon Jacobs tried to help with 12 of his own, but Addai, Hasselbeck, & Galloway were relatively quiet this week. FIRST Force claims victory, even if it was a bit on the ugly side.

Rank  	        Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	Silver Lobos 	        6-1-0 	.857 	578 	W-5 	1 	±0
2. 	Team Jack 	        6-1-0 	.857 	491 	W-6 	5 	+1
3. 	The XaulZans 	        5-2-0 	.714 	473 	L-1 	7 	-1
4. 	Rhode Island Drive 	4-3-0 	.571 	551 	W-2 	2 	+3
5. 	FIRST Force 	        4-3-0 	.571 	527 	W-1 	3 	+1
6. 	Indiana Ironmen 	4-3-0 	.571 	494 	L-1 	4 	-2
7. 	What Am I Doing Here 	4-3-0 	.571 	484 	L-2 	6 	-2
8. 	The Stud Man Clan 	3-4-0 	.429 	395 	W-1 	12 	+4
9. 	Isotopes 	        3-4-0 	.429 	374 	W-1 	14 	+4
10. 	Dunedain 	        2-5-0 	.286 	462 	L-2 	8 	-2
11. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        2-5-0 	.286 	439 	W-2 	9 	+3
12. 	Youngstown Hitmen 	2-5-0 	.286 	433 	L-2 	10 	-3
13. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	2-5-0 	.286 	415 	L-4 	11 	-3
14. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	2-5-0 	.286 	393 	L-1 	13 	-3

Koko's X-Cats are on a winning streak! Yay, Koko!

Anyhow, the first-half analysis and awards will be up, um, Soon™ (that is, sometime before noon on Sunday). See you then!

[EddieMcD]

Best-of-the-best: first half!

Most Valuable QB

Tom Brady (Team Jack)
Talk about your major players. He's 49 points up on the next highest-scoring QB, and is the main source of points on a team vying for first place. This one's kinda easy.

Honorable Mention: Peyton Manning
The Silver Lobos are in first place, and it's no surprise that Peyton is on their roster. With 84 points, he's not the only reason the Lobos are on top, but they wouldn't be on top without him.

Best Running Game

LaDanian Tomlinson, Edgerrin James, & Clinton Portis (What Am I Doing Here)
What am I doing here? I'm staring at three backs in the top 11. Despite a slow start, LT is now the second-best back in the league, and James & Portis provide excellent auxiliary scoring. And more proof that WAIDH deserves this award is the fact that two of their losses came to opponents breaking the 100 mark, and the third was with LT on a bye. Not too shaby.

Honorable Mention: Marion Barber III, Willis McGahee, & Jerious Norwood
What am I doing here? I'm staring at three backs in the top 12 (copy & paste FTW!). The Rhode Island Drive's three backs aren't as great as WAIDH's (heck, most of Norwood's points are from returning; his lone rushing TD does make him eligible for placement though), but you can't discount their usefulness in both of the Drive's back-to-back triple-digit games and their overall #2 fantasy point ranking.

Best Receiving Game

Steve Smith & Chad Johnson (Indiana Ironmen)
There are receivers that are better than these two, but no team, by far, has a better duo. A combined 9 TDs and 1176 receiving yards, these two are always at the forefront of the Ironmen's highlights.

Honorable Mention: Randy Moss & Andre Davis
Remember what I said about there being better receivers? Moss is the best, and is absolutely dominating. Andre Davis may look a bit out of place, but he does contribute his fair share. The Stud Man Clan look to make a second-half push with these two leading the way.

Most Valuable Kicker

Matt Stover (Indiana Ironmen)
All the higher-scoring kickers are on teams under .500, and they're really not that much better than Stover. While not as electrifying as the aforementioned receiving duo, Stover is seen putting up points every week.

Honorable Mention: Jay Feely
I'm fairly certain I haven't mentioned Feely at all this season, but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. Team Jack has won 6 straight, and the consistent scoring from the kicker spot means one less worry for them.

Most Productive Offense

Rhode Island Drive
It's just like the RB award earlier, but with two major twists. First is Devin Hester profiting off of teams stupid enough to kick the ball to him in Rhode Island's WR/TE spot; he's ranked 4th among all receivers. Second is the Drive's "quarterback by committee" featuring the fourth-ranked Derek Anderson and the getting-better-with-every-week Brian Griese. Add back in Barber III, McGahee, Norwood, & a top 10 kicker, and you can see why the Rhode Island Drive have the second-most fantasy points.

Honorable Mention: What Am I Doing Here
It's just like the RB award earlier. WAIDH even have a better receiver than the Drive in Plaxico Burress, plus a top ten kicker themselves. Where they lose this award though is at QB. They're stuck with Schaub & Young. It's their big flaw, but one that could get better as the season progresses.

Honorable Mention: Silver Lobos
The Silver Lobos are number one all around, but ironically, it's not because they're the best everywhere. Yes, they have Peyton Manning. Yes, they have probable Rookie of the Year (and best single RB right now) Adrian Peterson. But the majority of their scoring comes from the rest of their offense being consistently in the middle of the pack. It ain't pretty. It ain't flashy. But it is effective.

Most Dominant Defense

Dunedain
This was a tough one because of Dunedain's record. But their five losses are all on their offense. Seattle is the top DEF, and Barrett Ruud & Michael Boley are both top-five defensemen. Gabril Wilson isn't half bad either. Now, about ditching Seattle before Week VIII...

Honorable Mention: Youngstown Hitmen
If Dunedain gets the full award, then the Hitmen deserve at least an honorable mention. Chicago is the second-best DEF, and Julian Peterson, Will Witherspoon, & Osi Umenyiora are all in the top 15. Too bad they have no offense...

Honorable Mention: Rhode Island Drive
They're not nearly as good as the first two, but Rhode Island's defense has saved their bacon on numerous occasions. Minnesota is the third-best DEF (and they have 8th best Washington to go to on odd weeks), DeMeco Ryans is the top defensive player of the first half, London Fletcher is ranked 8th, & Eric Wright keeps piling on the singles.

Honorable Mention: Indiana Ironmen
And if I mention Rhode Island, I have to mention Indiana. Their three defensive players are in the top 20, and they have #4 New England for a DEF. Their defense isn't as much of an entity on its own (hence just getting an honorable mention), but combined with their offense... Yikes.

Playoff Picture

We have six weeks left, and absolutely no chance for strength-of-schedule controversies! It looks like, since more than half of the teams competing will get into the playoffs, that 7 wins will be the number to hit. And since both the Lobos and Team Jack have matches that are very much in their favor and 6 wins already, I'd bet my lunch money on both teams seeing postseason action. The XaulZans may need to be careful though, as they only have two sub-.500 teams left to play and were never really a high scoring team to begin with.

The Drive, Force, Ironmen, & WAIDH may wind up controlling who gets into the playoffs, and who stays home. All four have the Zans, but other than the Drive's recent surge and WAIDH's recent skid, there isn't much else going on. In fact, their combined schedules are so relatively easy, that these four teams may break so far away from the bottom half of the league that it may be all but impossible for the top 6/7 to be broken into from here on in. It should be interesting.

The Isotopes and the Clan both just broke three-game losing streaks with a much needed win. I actually wouldn't be shocked if both teams went 3-3 and wound up deciding the last playoff spot among themselves.

But the real action is down bottom. Any one or more of these teams can very easily make a 5-1 surge (and someone always does). Just look at the X-Cats; they have their first winning streak of the season. And if the Crushers can steal either Week VIII or IX, that 7 game mark is all of a sudden in reach. The Scapegoats have slightly more work to do, especially from dead last, but beating the right 4 teams could secure them a bottom spot. Dunedain & the Hitmen both have very difficult second-half schedules to overcome, which means they'll have the most work to do if they want to play in the playoffs. But keep in mind that these five are all currently only a single game out of 8th place, and therefore, far from finished.

Finally, for completeness, here are the magic numbers:

• Lobos & Jack are in with 4 wins, or 3 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes.
• Zans are in with 5 wins, or 4 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes.
• Drive, Force, Ironmen, & WAIDH will be in the playoffs if they win out. Also, 5 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes will work too.
• Clan & Topes are straddling the border, but if one wins out, and the other suffers from a single loss, the one that wins out will be guaranteed at least 8th. If one team fails to win another game, and the other wins a single game, the team that loses out will be eliminated.
• Dunedain, X-Cats, Hitmen, Crushers, & Scapegoats will be eliminated if they lose out. 5 losses plus a single win from either the Clan or Topes would also eliminate them.

These are all basic. Anything deeper would need a supercomputer, and I'm fairly certain the results would be quite boring anyway. I suppose all that's left to say about the playoffs is this: WIN, WIN, WIN!

This concludes our first half analysis & awards. Refreshments are available in the lobby. Please leave in an orderly fashion, and remember that we will be returning in the next few days for the first postgame analysis of the second half. See you then!

[EddieMcD]

So if you guys would just skip over that first review...

Rhode Island Drive (4-3) d. The Stud Man Clan (3-4)
59-48
Remember Rhode Island's "Most Productive Offense"? Well, half of it was off this week. Luckily, they had their honorable mention of a dominant defense to save their bacon (again). While Minnesota was nigh useless, Fletcher, Wright, & Ryans combined for 23. Then there were the bits and pieces of the Rhode Island offense that weren't off, namely Derek Anderson (16) and David Akers (10). Now, the Drive did a rather interesting thing to cover their byes: they handcuffed two backs and added two returners. It didn't work very well (the handcuffed backs were from the Bears, and we all know how well they did this week), but at least I see their strategy; I can't, for the life of me, figure out what the Clan were thinking starting three defenders from the same team. Even if they were Patriots, they were on the field for only a third of the game. And what's worse, what seemed to be their ace-in-the-hole this week, Randy Moss, only took in 8 points. In the end, this game was ugly to play and ugly to watch. But Rhode Island somehow manages to win.

Silver Lobos (6-1) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-5)
71-62
The X-Cats had Travis Henry. Aaaaaannnd that's the story of this game. The X-Cats were already spotting two 0s to the Lobos (for some odd reason, Julius Peppers did absolutely nothing), and the Lobos took advantage of the situation. Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne hooked up enough for 29 points, Tennessee had 10, and the rest of both the offense and defense, at the very least, kept pace. Not that that pace was very difficult to keep up with. Along with their two zeros, the X-Cats also had two 1s and two 4s. Their upper scores were nifty; San Diego led with 18, Rivers had 14, and Welker & Gostkowski (another spellcheck nemesis) both scored 10. But with two 0s due to unforeseen circumstances, the X-Cats were playing at 80%, and to quote Ed, essentially screwed.

Stevies Scapegoats (2-5) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-3)
53-22
What am I doing here? Um... Well, I'd say I was critiquing WAIDH down to the last detail, but that'd involve words Brandon Martus would ban me for. Suffice it to say, they weren't good. Their entire offense (that's six players) combined for 6 points total. Their defense wasn't half bad, but I'm pretty sure defense is a moot point right now. The Scapegoats weren't exactly Olympic caliber themselves, but at the very least, eight of their players turned in at least 3 points, and Torry Holt's 13 plus Detroit's 11 would've won on their own. There's really not much else to say.

Isotopes (3-4) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-3)
83-60
Now here's what happens when one team has the one Patriots defenseman that actually got to do something. I'm talking about Mike Vrabel's 23. The Isotopes won by exactly 23. Coincidence? Probably. I mean, the 'Topes also had Braylon Edward's 18, McNabb's 11, & Longwell's 10. Meanwhile, Steve Smith was off for the Ironmen, they dumped Stover, and their receiving duo of Johnson & Johnson (don't they sponsor the New Jersey Regional?) was less than spectacular (to put it in perspective, their best receiver this week was the guy who caught the lone TD for the Redskins). The Ironmen did have the New England DEF, but their 15 could only go so far. The same goes for Roethlisberger's 10. When your middle-offense and defensive players can't back you up, you're not going to win a high-scoring game.

FIRST Force (4-3) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-5)
56-53
I was tempted to make a bad boy-band joke upon seeing all the byes on both teams' scorecards. In such a close scoring game, every tiny provider of points starts to matter. In the Crushers' case, they were missing a kicker. While I'm pleased to welcome Brian Westbrook back to the scoreboard with 16, I can't help but notice that had Nor Cal played a kicker who kicked a single field goal, this game would've tied. On the other side, half of FIRST Force's defense also put up 0s due to byes. At least Terrence McGee's 10 kept the Force defense from becoming all for naught. Fast Willie Parker led the Force offense with 13, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh did his job, scoring 10. In the end, they won by 3, which was 2 more than they needed to.

Team Jack (6-1) d. Youngstown Hitmen (2-5)
95-41
I'll keep it to just the good stuff in this review. The Hitmen had Will Witherspoon's 10, and the Hitmen outscored WAIDH (though to be fair, a half asleep team of monkeys would've outscored WAIDH). Team Jack had Tom Brady's 3 passing and 2 rushing touchdowns. Team Jack had dual 16s from Gates and Ward. Team Jack still won defense with a bunch of single-digit scores. Team Jack had seven of it's players scoring at least 7 points. And if I say it for Youngstown, I have to say it for Team Jack: Team Jack outscored WAIDH (though to be fair, I could've gone onto the gridiron and outscored WAIDH). Long story short, Team jack won.

Dunedain (2-5) d. The XaulZans (5-2)
93-60
I'll come right out and say it: I was impressed with the XaulZans' defensive unit. E.J. Henderson, Antoine Winfield, Nick Barnett, & the Jacksonville DEF combined for 39. Sadly, nobody on the Zans' offense cleared 5, so while they put up a decent score, they had to compete with Dunedain. Dunedain's defense was only half as powerful as its opponent's, but they made up for it on offense. Let's start with Joseph Addai's 109 YDs & 3 TDs. Favre was on fire too, netting 15, and Dunedain's two receivers piled on another 22. On the downside, Dunedain had San Francisco's -1. I suppose they can't all be winners...

Rank  	        Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  	Streak  F.Rank  Change
1. 	Silver Lobos 	        7-1-0 	.875 	649 	W-6 	1 	±0
2. 	Team Jack 	        7-1-0 	.875 	586 	W-7 	3 	±0
3. 	Rhode Island Drive 	5-3-0 	.625 	610 	W-3 	2 	+1
4. 	FIRST Force 	        5-3-0 	.625 	583 	W-2 	4 	+1
5. 	The XaulZans 	        5-3-0 	.625 	533 	L-2 	7 	-2
6. 	Indiana Ironmen 	4-4-0 	.500 	554 	L-2 	6 	±0
7. 	What Am I Doing Here 	4-4-0 	.500 	506 	L-3 	8 	±0
8. 	Isotopes 	        4-4-0 	.500 	457 	W-2 	12 	+1
9. 	Dunedain 	        3-5-0 	.375 	555 	W-1 	5 	+1
10. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	3-5-0 	.375 	446 	W-1 	13 	+4
11. 	The Stud Man Clan 	3-5-0 	.375 	443 	L-1 	14 	-3
12. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        2-6-0 	.250 	501 	L-1 	9 	-1
13. 	Youngstown Hitmen 	2-6-0 	.250 	474 	L-3 	10 	-1
14. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	2-6-0 	.250 	468 	L-5 	11 	-1

856 points scored this week, a whole 2.6% of which was scored by WAIDH...

I kid, I kid. We're going into Week IX, and thankfully, there's a clean chopping point for this week's (brief) playoff picture:

• Lobos & Jack's magic number is 2. They could clinch as early as next week if they win and all three of Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan lose.
• The next magic number is 4 for the Drive, Force, & Zans (3 if Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan each lose once).
• Winning out will put the Ironmen, WAIDH, & Topes in the playoffs. 4 wins would also work if Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan each lose once.
• In an interesting mathematical anomaly, Dunedain, Scapegoats, & Clan only need to lose 4 times to be eliminated. This is because all three play 2 of the Ironmen, WAIDH, & Topes (and before someone with even less of a life than I do comes in and mentions that the Topes are only in one of those games, specifically with the Scapegoats, both the Scapegoats & Topes play the X-Cats & Crushers, and come Week XIII, if the Topes have lost 4 and the Scapegoats have lost 3, at least one of the X-Cats & Crushers would've passed both of them; a side note, this also means that the Topes can not make the playoffs with 4 losses).
• X-Cats, Hitmen, & Crushers will be eliminated upon losing 4 times, or 3 losses and a single win from each of the Ironmen, WAIDH, & Topes. No calculus needed.

You know, I went awfully deep into that 3-5 bracket for something that has a 50/50 chance of no longer being true after Monday... Anyhow, I'll be back sometime next week, where there's actually a chance that the top 8 could be separated from the next tier by two games, making my job fairly dull until playoffs...

[EddieMcD]

Thank god I faced the team with Brady the week he actually had to face a defense...

Rhode Island Drive (5-3) d. Team Jack (7-1)
70-57
Three backs versus three receivers. Who wins? Rhode Island's RBs. Actually, in a twist of irony, had Team Jack switched out one (or even all) of their receivers for the benched Maurice Jones-Drew, we wouldn't be having this conversation because Team Jack would be victorious, but you know what they say about hindsight. In fact, Team Jack's LenDale White outscored said receiving trio, Tom Brady was held to 14 points (I chuckle as I use the word "held" there; I suppose that's what happens when he has to face an actual defense), and their top score came from their kicker! On the other hand, I can't really praise the Drive for any single effort. Their top scores were Derek Anderson's 11 (another "held" situation) and Marion Barber's 10, but if you look down their scorecard, there is no score lower than 5. It's not the greatest conglomerative effort in the world, but it'll do.

Isotopes (4-4) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-6)
58-43
Woe is the X-Cats, fate binded to the Chargers. I don't really need to say more. Lynch's 18 and Welker's 11 made up the bulk of their score, wasted due to a lot of horrible gameplay from the rest of the roster (seriously, Travis Henry isn't worth it). There was only one more score above 3 for the X-Cats. The Isotopes came in with Reggie Bush's 17 & Earnest Graham's (who?) 13, backed up by half their remaining roster clearing 4. It's another unpretty win for the 'Topes.

The Stud Man Clan (3-5) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-4)
64-63
What am I doing here? You know, other than being stumped on how to analyze this game. I mean, looking at the big picture, this game was remarkably even. Both teams had three players score <3, both teams had a single large score and a single moderately high score (Moss & Bironas for the Clan, Portis & Tomlinson for WAIDH), both defenses were within 2 points of each other, and both teams had three more moderate scores (two on offense, one on defense). That last bullet point, though, is where the Clan manage to edge out WAIDH. Dallas, Davis, & Colston = slightly better than WAIDH's Ware, James, & Campbell. And remember people, you only need to win by 1.

Stevies Scapegoats (3-5) d. Indiana Ironmen (4-4)
111-63
The Ironmen had a 24 from Roethlisberger's excellent Monday nighter. Sadly, they needed a 73. That's because they were playing the Scapegoats, who are on an exciting surge as of late. The Goats were led by Jamal Lewis's 29 (hence the "held to" comment about Derek Anderson in the first game). Alone, it's very impressive, but add Detroit's 20, Glenn Holt's 15, Jon Kitna's 14, and four more players at or above 6, and it becomes godly (or god-awful, if you're Indiana). This is the simplest game I've had to analyze in weeks.

Silver Lobos (7-1) d. Nor Cal Crushers (2-6)
87-72
Why is it that every time the Crushers play a good game, their opponent has to play better? All that's due to the Lobos trump card this week, an Adrian Peterson 30, in quite possibly the best game any rookie in the NFL has ever had. Talk about tough breaks, because Nor Cal outdid the Lobos everywhere else. Pittsburgh's 15, Westbrook's 14, and a 12 coming from the K spot were excellent contributions, and if you really wanted to find a fault, I guess you point out their three receivers combining for just 3 points. Maybe if they had performed, Nor Cal would've had a mondo upset. But alas, the Lobos remain the lone one-loss team.

Youngstown Hitmen (2-6) d. Dunedain (3-5)
87-68
Hello, high-scoring shootout. This game was about who's high scores were higher, and judging by the nineteen point difference in final scores, clearly, Youngstown was better. The Hitmen had a middle-offense composed of Leon Washington (13), Terrell Owens (15), Joshua Cribs (10), & Greg Jennings (17). On defense, they were sporting a 14 from Charles Woodson and a 10 from the New Orleans DEF. While Dunedain had the high score of this game, Joseph Addai's 18, the rest of their scores were relatively low. Three 10s came from Hasselbeck, Galloway, & Bodden, plus a 9 from Boley. If Dunedain had one more high score, maybe they would've had this game, but now both teams are 3-6.

FIRST Force (5-3) d. The XaulZans (5-3)
64-41
The XaulZans had Tony Romo and Jason Witten connecting for a combined 26. Not bad! But four 0s and nobody else clearing 5? Not good! FIRST Force had Palmer & Houshmandzadeh connecting for a combined 20. Still not bad, but Lee Evans adding 16 makes it even better. Combine that with only one 0 & four more people clearing 5, and it's all good.

Rank  	        Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  Streak  F.Rank  Change
1.x 	Silver Lobos 	        8-1-0 	.889 	736 	W-7 	1 	±0
2. 	Team Jack 	        7-2-0 	.778 	643 	L-1 	4 	±0
3. 	Rhode Island Drive 	6-3-0 	.667 	680 	W-4 	2 	±0
4. 	FIRST Force 	        6-3-0 	.667 	647 	W-3 	3 	±0
5. 	The XaulZans 	        5-4-0 	.556 	574 	L-3 	7 	±0
6. 	Isotopes 	        5-4-0 	.556 	515 	W-3 	13 	+2
7. 	Indiana Ironmen 	4-5-0 	.444 	617 	L-3 	6 	-1
8. 	What Am I Doing Here 	4-5-0 	.444 	569 	L-4 	8 	-1
9. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	4-5-0 	.444 	557 	W-2 	10 	+1
10. 	The Stud Man Clan 	4-5-0 	.444 	507 	W-1 	14 	+1
11. 	Dunedain 	        3-6-0 	.333 	623 	L-1 	5 	-2
12. 	Youngstown Hitmen 	3-6-0 	.333 	561 	W-1 	9 	+1
13. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        2-7-0 	.222 	544 	L-2 	11 	-1
14. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	2-7-0 	.222 	540 	L-6 	12 	±0

x=Clinched Playoff Birth

Youngstown seems to think that they'll be feared as a playoff spoiler. I seem to think that that they'll be feared because they're only a game and 8 fantasy points out of eighth place. Speaking of which, it's time for the Playoff Picture:

• The Lobos are guaranteed a shot at defending their championship. Why do I say this and Yahoo doesn't? Well, it's complicated. See below.
• This also means that Jack is one game away from clinching. Again, see below.
• The Drive and Force need two wins. See below.
• Topes only need to win thrice to clinch. See below. Also, if they lose all of their last 4 games, they're eliminated. See last week's playoff picture for that one.
• The Zans, Scapegoats, Ironmen, WAIDH, & Clan will clinch if they win out. It's actually one big fustercluck (I pray none of the moderators are dyslexic) as it's mathematically impossible for more than three of these teams to win out, so see below. The Scapegoats & Clan would also be eliminated if they lose all of their last 4 games, for the same reason as the Topes.
• The Hitmen will be eliminated if they lose out. Simple!
• Dunedain, X-Cats, & Crushers will be directly eliminated if they lose three more games (Dunedain is here because due to last week's anomaly, they could only afford to lose 4 games, and they lost this week, bringing it down to 3).

Now, let's look at the schedule to clear everything up:

• (be forewarned, I was forced to go non-linear when it came to the timing of games in this bullet point; y'all may need to if you wish to follow, but even if you don't, rest assured, it's all correct) There are three games which clear up our mathematical flux above: Ironmen/Clan in Week X, WAIDH/Zans in Week XII, and Zans/Ironmen in Week XIII. Despite the Zans being a bracket higher than the other four teams they're tiered with, if they lose in both Weeks XII & XIII, they're guaranteed to fall into the current 3-6 bracket. But if the Zans win just one of those two games, it'll drop the respective loser into the current 3-6 bracket. Either way, Week X's Ironmen/Clan game knocks a second team down that 3-6 bracket, making a perfect chopping point right after eighth place. Now you're probably asking yourself what happens if the Ironmen lose both of those games and WAIDH wins in Week XII. We'd have four teams fighting for spots #6-8. That's where the Topes, Force, & Drive come in. The Topes have Force & Goats, Force has Topes & Drive, & Drive has Zans & Force. If it comes down to Topes/Goats or Drive/Zans, it means either the Topes or Drive have fallen 2 brackets (via their respective games versus Force). The Topes would need no further math (they'd fall into the current 3-6 bracket), but for the Drive, it would mean the Hitmen & Dunedain storming up and taking out either the Zans or WAIDH, or the Drive falling out completely (both the Drive & WAIDH have the Zans, Hitmen, & Dunedain, remembering the fact that the Zans would've lost one already, WAIDH would be undefeated, meaning those losses would drop at least one of them into the current 3-6 bracket, joining the Ironmen and completing the circle). Long story short, at least two teams are guaranteed to fall to the current 3-6 bracket with Dunedain & Hitmen, making it mathematically impossible for more than six of the current #3-#10 teams to clinch via the methods shown above. And in turn, that's what makes the methods shown above able to happen (and gives the Lobos the first playoff spot this season). Self-completing loops FTW!
• Another good one for you: If Dunedain and/or Hitmen win out, they'll be guaranteed to at least be fighting for seventh (check my last bullet point; at least two more teams will be falling to their bracket or lower because of all that mess if the Hitmen and/or Dunedain win out). They don't completely control their own fate in this situation though, because there's a possibility that up to four other teams could be tied with them, making it come down to fantasy points, and therefore meaning that even if they do win out, they could still miss the playoffs.
• The X-Cats and Crushers both have three teams in that big tangle up top. If they win out, they are far from done.
• Force & Drive in Week XIII looks exciting, seeing as linearly, it's the last game in my tangle up top. I'm fairly certain it's impossible for both teams to miss the playoffs, so it could be the biggest game of both team's seasons if they've gone 0-3 up until that point. Of course, it's possible that both their present courses stay the same, in which case, it'll still be a great game between two of the top 4 seeds. Or the Ironmen could win their Week XIII game against the Zans, undoing my tangle and making the playoffs very straightforward.
• While mathematically, anyone the top 10 can get the number one seed (don't get me started again), realistically, only the top 4 have a shot at it. The Lobos have the best shot, as they're both a game ahead of anyone else and leading in fantasy points. But Jack, Drive, & Force are all close enough in fantasy points that if the Lobos go 2-2 for the rest of the season, it's a virtual toss-up.

Um... I'm actually out of words after all that. And the funny thing is, if the Ironmen win this week, all those words will be for naught, as both of the Zans Week XII & Week XIII games would be enough to make that chopping point at #8.

I'm hungry. I'm tired. My head hurts. See you next week.

[EddieMcD]

Lousy Rangers of the North...

Dunedain (3-6) d. Rhode Island Drive (6-3)
77-68
You'll notice that the Drive's usual powerhouse running game decided to keep their scoring on the lower end of the spectrum this week. Not a great start for them, and it'd stay that way. Dunedain outdid Rhode Island when they needed to: the Drive's Derek Anderson gets 14, Dunedain's Favre gets 20. Eric Wright got 14 for the Drive, Gibril Wilson and Mike Peterson both average 15.5 points on Dunedain's side. Rhode Island tries to come back on Monday night with a D.J Hackett 12, but Seattle shuts out the 49ers and equals that 12 for Dunedain. It was a clear and decisive win for Dunedain.

Stevies Scapegoats (4-5) d. Koko's X-Cats (2-7)
33-32
And on the other end of things are two teams that both seemed to not want to win. In fact, had the X-Cats not fielded a QB, they'd have won! And we all know about Travis Henry's troubles. Again, Marshawn Lynch's 14 alone is not going to cut it. The Scapegoats weren't much better. Going into Monday, they were still losing by 4, mostly thanks to Jamal Lewis's -2, and lack of any non-kicking offensive score above 4. But there were three 7s keeping them in the game, and the Scapegoats' two Seahawks scored the necessary 5 points between them on Monday Night Football to put them ahead. And just a bit of filler here: eight teams beat or equaled the combined score of this game, three of which were losing efforts. Says a lot about this game, huh?

Team Jack (7-2) d. What Am I Doing Here (4-5)
67-53
What am I doing here? I'm not even sure WAIDH was even here. There's three empty slots on their scorecard, and this was the week Jason Campbell breaks out for 13. LT even came through with 10 of his own, and Portis added 8 more. But then there's all... those... zeros... Team Jack has had better weeks, but they had some big scores from Maurice Jones-Drew (15), Hines Ward (14), & Drew Brees (10), and their defense was relatively decent enough to not be a factor. The answer to the question of what I'm doing here? I'm watching WAIDH lose their fifth straight.

Indiana Ironmen (4-5) d. The Stud Man Clan (4-5)
76-44
What am I doing here? I'm not even sure The Stud Man Clan was here. If you thought WAIDH was bad, there's five 0s on the Clan's scorecard, four from byes. There's that Derrick Johnson 15 waaaaayyyyy down at the bottom, but that was it. All the Ironmen had to do was breathe on the Clan to take them out (there's an iron lung joke there somewhere, but I'd rather not). And Roethlisberger's 24, Brackett's 17, & Dunn's 12 must've felt like a hurricane. This was exactly what Indiana needed to snap their three-game losing streak. So... many... zeros...

Nor Cal Crushers (2-7) d. Isotopes (5-4)
95-71
Now these are the Crushers we all know and love. While their defensive 16 wasn't much to be proud of, that just meant more points for their offense. Brian Westbrook hit the end-zone thrice and ended his day with 29 fantasy points, Roy Williams hit the end-zone twice for 14, Steven Jackson passed for a TD and ran for a TD, totaling 14, & Selvin Young made good of Travis Henry's (and the X-Cats') pain, rushing for a TD and breaking that 100-yard mark for 13 points. The 'Topes didn't play too bad themselves; they won the QB battle by 16 (Eli got picked twice for Nor Cal, McNabb, well, didn't), and Reggie Bush's 15 was impressive (even if he did lose). But it's faily obvious that while most of their scores were decent, there were no more scores of the caliber the Crushers put up this week. Now the important question is whether the Crushers can keep living up to their name.

FIRST Force (6-3) d. Silver Lobos (8-1)
56-52
Here's what happens when the top team in the league has their top two players fail miserably. We all know what happened to Adrian Peterson (injury; out for two weeks at least), and we all know what happened to Peyton Manning (six interceptions; that's 12 points subtracted from his total). Luckily, Reggie Wayne caught one of Manning's TD passes and a good portion of his yardage, giving the Lobos 16 points, but with abnormally low scores from the rest of the team, it just wasn't meant to be. FIRST Force played the "slow and steady" card this week. Their high score was Jeff Reed's 11, but six of their players scored 6 points or more, and all of their players scored at least two points. In this "every little bit counts" sitch, those lower scores ended up being the difference.

Youngstown Hitmen (3-6) d. The XaulZans (5-4)
87-65
For some odd reason, I'm chuckling at Adam Vinatieri's -4 in the Hitmen's K spot. But rest assured, Youngstown fans, that was the only bad thing to come the Hitmen's way. Everyone else on their roster scored at least 4 points, including T.O.'s 20, Joshua Cribbs's (again I say, who?) 18, Kurt Warner's 14 (I know, I'm just as shocked as the rest of you), & Chicago's 12 (and now I'm just speechless). The XaulZans, unfortunately, are in one of those losing skids where nothing seems to go right. They had some nice scores from Romo (18), Jacksonville (11), Berrian (10), & Crayton (9), but you've probably noticed that those scores were no equal to Youngstown's, and that there wasn't much in the way of backup for the Zans. So now the Hitmen have their first winning streak of the season. Can they keep it up?

Rank  	        Team  	        W-L-T  	Pct.  	Pts.  Streak  F.Rank  Change
1.x 	Silver Lobos 	        8-2-0 	.800 	788 	L-1 	1 	±0
2.x 	Team Jack 	        8-2-0 	.800 	710 	W-1 	3 	±0
3. 	FIRST Force 	        7-3-0 	.700 	703 	W-4 	4 	+1
4. 	Rhode Island Drive 	6-4-0 	.600 	748 	L-1 	2 	-1
5. 	Indiana Ironmen 	5-5-0 	.500 	693 	W-1 	6 	+2
6. 	The XaulZans 	        5-5-0 	.500 	639 	L-4 	8 	-1
7. 	Stevies Scapegoats 	5-5-0 	.500 	590 	W-3 	11 	+2
8. 	Isotopes 	        5-5-0 	.500 	586 	L-1 	12 	-2
9. 	Dunedain 	        4-6-0 	.400 	700 	W-1 	5 	+2
10. 	Youngstown Hitmen 	4-6-0 	.400 	648 	W-2 	7 	+2
11. 	What Am I Doing Here 	4-6-0 	.400 	622 	L-5 	10 	-3
12. 	The Stud Man Clan 	4-6-0 	.400 	551 	L-1 	14 	-2
13. 	Nor Cal Crushers 	3-7-0 	.300 	635 	W-1 	9 	+1
14. 	Koko's X-Cats 	        2-8-0 	.200 	576 	L-3 	13 	-1

x=Clinched Playoff Birth

We've got some teams trying to surge up from the bottom to take a playoff spot, and some teams that are falling out of secure positions. Playoff Picture:

• Team Jack does what I told them to do last week, and joins the Silver Lobos in the playoffs.
• Force is halfway there; one more win will clinch them a spot. Also, a single loss from all of the 4-6 teams will do it.
• Drive still need two wins to clinch. A win and a single loss from all of the 4-6 teams will work as well.
• Ironmen, Zans, Scapegoats, & Topes will clinch if they win out. Of course, it's impossible for more than two of them to do so, which leads us to...
• ...Dunedain & Hitmen will still have a shot at at least 7th if they win out. Again, not a guaranteed playoff birth, because there's a chance up to three more teams could be tied with them.
• And adding more fuel to the math fire, WAIDH will clinch a playoff spot if they win out. Um, see below. Again.
• The Clan will be directly eliminated if they lose out. It's the same thing from two weeks ago.
• The Crushers will be eliminated if they lose twice.
• The X-Cats will be eliminated if they lose one more time.
• As an aside, the Topes & Dunedain will be mathematically eliminated if they lose out, carrying over from the last two weeks.

More math!

• This week's mathematical quandaries are brought to you by the Ironmen/Zans & Scapegoats/Topes games, both in Week XIII. It's what allows the win-out scenario for WAIDH (two of the Ironmen, Zans, Scapegoats, & Topes will drop a bracket, and WAIDH has both Dunedain & Hitmen, so winning out would drop those two teams below WAIDH, meaning WAIDH would be guaranteed at least 8th), and allows Dunedain & Hitmen to have at least a shot at 7th (mostly because they're guaranteed to have two teams joining their bracket, but they can make their situation even better, depending on how said games turn out).
• Since I'm in that 4-6 bracket, the Clan have absolutely no games that help them, which is why they're singled out. They could feasibly go 3-0 and be stuck at 9th even before we take fantasy points into consideration. The good news for them is that they can eliminate the X-cats this week then possibly the Crushers next week, but their last game is against the Lobos, which other than adding a win to the W column (which is still important, mind you), doesn't do a whole lot to help them considering the Lobos have already clinched.
• The Crushers took out the Topes this past week. They now have the Scapegoats followed by the Clan. If they can take those two, they'll be in a rather large tangle for the last few playoff spots come Week XIII. A bit of bad news though: their Week XIII opponent is Team Jack.
• For the Ironmen, Zans, Scapegoats, & Topes, these next two weeks are going to be very important. A single loss opens up the door for up to four more teams to join you in your playoff hunt.
• The Force/Drive game in Week XIII doesn't look as good as it did last week (I mean, it was the game holding together that entire circle that got undone by the Ironmen beating the Clan last week, for crying out loud!), but it should still be a decent game played by two of the current top 4.
• And as I end every week, The Man Award (for the #1 seed) is mathematically available to the current top 8 teams, but realistically, I'll be handing it to one of the current top 3 (with an outside chance for the Drive). None of the top 3 play each other, so it's really anybody's ballgame.

I'll be back either Tuesday night or Wednesday for the Week XI postgame. Until then...

[Cory]

Is the draft going to be randomized?

[Logan Byers]

Originally Posted by Cory

Is the draft going to be randomized?

Yahoo randomizes the draft order about 45 minutes before the draft.
If you don't trust Yahoo, commissioners have the ability to change the draft order up until the start of the draft.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by 461gopher

Yahoo randomizes the draft order about 45 minutes before the draft.
If you don't trust Yahoo, commissioners have the ability to change the draft order up until the start of the draft.

I know Yahoo randomizes it.

Eddie sent an email out saying that the draft order will be the order in which we signed up for the league--which I think is totally wrong, since he will get LT by default, and nobody else will even have a chance at him.

[Logan Byers]

Originally Posted by Cory

I know Yahoo randomizes it.

Eddie sent an email out saying that the draft order will be the order in which we signed up for the league--which I think is totally wrong, since he will get LT by default, and nobody else will even have a chance at him.

From his email:

#1) I’d like your opinion on a live draft vs. an auto draft. If I were to hold a live draft, it’d most likely be on September 4th, and the draft order would be random. If I were to hold an auto draft, I’d push the button saying that we were ready over Labor Day weekend, and the draft order would be the order in which you joined the league in order to relieve us of some of the randomness. Keep in mind that it would probably take a nigh-unanimous vote to get me to switch it to a live draft, but if you guys are all down with it, I see no problems having one.

So it will be random for the live draft.

[Alex Cormier]

Originally Posted by Cory

I know Yahoo randomizes it.

Eddie sent an email out saying that the draft order will be the order in which we signed up for the league--which I think is totally wrong, since he will get LT by default, and nobody else will even have a chance at him.

nope, he ALWAYS takes peyton manning first.

[EddieMcD]

Originally Posted by Cory

I know Yahoo randomizes it.

Eddie sent an email out saying that the draft order will be the order in which we signed up for the league--which I think is totally wrong, since he will get LT by default, and nobody else will even have a chance at him.

As my email said, that's only for autodrafting, to alleviate some of the randomness. But since it's live, there's no need for a non-random draft order, since we'll all be there and be able to see the players we're able to pick. The details are in my commissioner's note.

Anybody want to play over/under on my draft number?

[XaulZan11]

Oh, last person to join! Taravis Jackson going in the first round!

[JackN]

Me and the rest of Team Jack are planning on winning this league. Your team may have a better name but my team will have better players.

[Alex Cormier]

Originally Posted by JackN

Me and the rest of Team Jack are planning on winning this league. Your team may have a better name but my team will have better players.

it woulda been nice to still be in the league. but for some odd reason i was booted.