Week #2
Week #2 saw three teams advance to 2-0 with 2 top 8 finishes, with another team just behind with a 2-0 record and 1 top 8. There are four winless teams through two weeks, as week #2 was still a relatively high scoring week. Last year most of the cutoffs for top 8 finishes were in the mid to upper 50's, week two it was very high again with 67 being the low to make the top 8. That is even 1 point higher than last weeks record setting scoring week in the NFL. It must be the Steve Spurrier factor as many teams are really lighting up the scoreboard in the early NFL season. Then again, we all saw how well the Fun & Gun worked on Monday night!
Things seem to be moving along quite well in the league. The new priority list seems to work fine, and people don't seem to have a problem following it and understanding it. The score reporting has been pretty good (much better than the NFL II league!), but I am still finding some mistakes when I cross reference the scores of the two leagues. The two most common mistakes are missing fumbles (a new stat, so I will give people a little break) and also that missed FG's are 34 and under this year (another new rule). In general it has been quite good, so many thanks for all those that send me confirmed boxscores.
Several teams have already found the league message board (and not just Maze and Steve!), hopefully the smack talk will continue as we move along. Please stop by and join in the fun!
Now, lets take a look at the action from week #2:
Filiricans 60 Bandits 36
Johnny/Matt get the first win in their first
season as they easily turn back the Bandits. The 'Ricans didn't put up the
points they did in week one, but it was not needed against the Bandits low score
of the week. Marshal was his usual self with 21 and Akers kicked in 16, that
alone was enough for the win. Johnny added fuel to the fire by letting Al know
about his weak performance on the message board, this could be a great revenge
game come playoff time. Next up for the 'Ricans is the week two points leader
Fish, so they have some work ahead if they want to fry the Fish. Al's team goes
from best score of week one, to worst score of week 2, not a good turnaround.
Heck, even Holmes week one scored more than the Bandits team did in week two. No
worries for Al though, these young guns come along all the time, and Al always
seems to be there come playoff time. TE Gonzalez continues his top ways leading
the Bandits with 10 points.
Hitmen
91 Wapati 53
Bill/John get a nice balanced attack from
their Hitmen as they trounce the Wapati to move to 2-0. Culpepper and Jones lead
the way with 19 apiece, while WR's Glenn and Thrash add 14/15 to seal the
Wapati's fate. Jones looked good for the Hitmen, but I still think they should
frame that boxscore as he may never come close to that type of performance
again. Boyd and Butch drop to 0-2 as their team just isn't putting up any points
right now. Garcia bounced back from a bad week one with a 14 point game, but the
Staley/Portis backfield is not very intimidating right now. Stud WR Smith also
is struggling a bit right now as well. Next up for the Wapati is the Machine,
they will need to have Machine QB Griese find Smith and Portis a little more
regularly or it may be 0-3 time.
Tide
75 Manatees 59
Jeff/Scott's Tide recover nicely from a week
one disaster and beat the defending champs by 16. The Tide got a huge week from
San Diego Def as they showed what a long season the Texans may have ahead of
them and posted a score of 34. Not much else from the team as the terrible
twosome from Pittsburgh looked lost on Monday night. On a positive note, Bettis
didn't score in the negatives this week as he managed a nice 0 point game.
Rich/Mark's Manatees come back to the pack as Henry and Green couldn't muster up
much in week two. Favre was solid with 14 for the Manatees, and Vinatieri
chipped in 15. The Manatees' WR corps are not looking to good right now as they
could only must up 2 points this week. Taylor, Morton, Ismail and Hakim? Sounds
like waiver wire time for the Manatees.
Demons
67 Maulers 56
Eric/Tom get a win from their Demons squad
and get a top 8 finish this week, taking the final spot with their score of 67.
New England Def was big again with a 28 point week, but injuries are quickly
taking their toll on the Demons. Curtis just doesn't seem right, and now QB got
thrown around on MNF and Danny Awful may be the new starting QB in the Fun &
Gun. Look elsewhere Eric & Tom! Merv/Mike suffer their second straight defeat as
the Maulers score the same as the did in week one with 56. The Green Bay Def is
not playing well and a one point week from them really hurt. Thomas was the
leader this week with 11, but the only player to reach double digits. Next up
for the Maulers is the Destroyers, so a big game is need to get the first win of
the year.
Contributors 81 Cossacks 41
Two word: Pearless Price! McSwain finally
gets his first football win of the year as his Contributors annihilated the
still winless in all football leagues Cossacks. Price was the main man this week
with a monster 30 point game, while Dunn found the end zone to add 11. Scary
thing for the Contributors, what if Warner returns to form soon? It is a matter
of time. What to say about Maze and his Cossacks? Gannon had a big game but
still could only get 13 despite throwing nearly 100 passes on Sunday night.
(actually it was 63, but it seemed more!). Alexander is struggling and Burress
is non-existent in the Pittsburgh offense. Question is, who wins first? Cossacks
or Steelers? Either way, Maze's football season is not off to a good start.
Fish
93 Machine 63
Wayne/Jim get the first win of the year as
their Fish handle the Machine with relative ease. Hollis led the way with 21,
while their RB's look great again as Rickey and Deuce both post top weeks.
Philly Def added a nice 17 point game to the mix. The Fish are in good shape at
QB and RB, but WR may need a little fine tuning as Coles didn't make a single
catch. Frank's team just missed out on a top 8 finish, so it was a total loss in
week #2 for the Machine. Taylor is still healthy (tick, tick, tick....as that
time bomb is already ticking) and led the team along with stud WR Harrison with
19 each. If Taylor stays healthy and Griese stays on the field, the Machine look
like a solid team.
Cows 78 Destroyers 76
In the game of the week (as predicted here
last week) the Cows narrowly defeat the Destroyers by just 2 points. Driver's
team got a big game from Bledsoe who had 25, and James looked like the James
pre-injury with a 14. WR Smith added 14 as well, as the Cows look to have a very
balanced attack right now. Steve's team almost made the comeback complete as
McNabb had a nice 24 point game, but Pinkston couldn't get enough of the Philly
offense's big day and scored just 2. Moss is looking real good these days as he
had 17, and Shockey had 14 as he too looks solid. Tough week for Steve, but the
Destroyers look good despite their lack of WR depth behind Moss.
Death
92 Luck 48
The Commish follows up week one with an even
better week two as the Death move to 2-0 with their solid defeat of the Luck.
Garner was the leader this week on offense with 17, and a big 35 point game from
their Tampa Bay Def was enough for the win. Brian's team couldn't put up much of
a fight this week after a solid week one, as the Luck are now 0-2 to start the
season. Plummer was back to his old tricks, and was promptly released this week.
Not much in the way of points scored for the Luck, as Johnson led the team with
10. Conway did sit on the Luck bench with 22, but it still wouldn't have
mattered. Brian also has to wonder what is up with RB Green, he was the most
hyped rookie RB this year, and he still hasn't scored a single point yet.
Week
#2 Awards:
Top QB:
Bledsoe, Cows 25 Points
Top RB: Faulk, Filiricans 21 Points
Top WR: Price, Contributors 30 Points
Top TE: Shockey, Destroyers 14 Points
Top K: Hollis, Fish
21 Points
Top Def: Tampa Bay, Death 35 Points
Week #3 Preview
Last week's record: 5-3
Year to Date: 5-3
Filiricans @ Fish
Both teams 1-1, both have looked good early
on. Fish Rb's just to much these days in the game of the week
Pick:
Fish
Bandits @ Cossacks
Could it be 0-3 for Cossacks? Bandits should bounce back from bad week easily
Pick: Bandits
Hitmen @ Contributors
Two solid teams, should be a very high
scoring game. Warner returns to form
Pick: Contributors
Wapati @ Machine
Taylor remains healthy (on a bye, safe bet)
and Griese throws 4 TD's, all to McCaffery.
Pick: Machine
Manatees @ Luck
Manatees WR's go scoreless, while the old
Luck QB Plummer throws 6 TD's. Bet the under in this game Pick:
Luck
Tide @ Death
Tide has 3 starters on a bye week, Death
playing well, could spell real troubles for Tide
Pick: Death
Maulers @ Destroyers
Maulers need a win badly, Destroyers lose RB
Lewis to bye week
Pick:
Maulers
Demons @ Cows Cows on a
roll, Demons need a QB.
Pick: Cows
Good luck to everyone in week #3! I am outta
here......
The
Commish
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