Week 8: The Separation Begins

2 games separate the top 4 from the rest of the league. Is anyone going to be able to break into the group and challenge for the playoffs?

There is a chink in the Brady-Only Bunch armor, thanks to Ballin'. The Only Bunch was up by 25 going into Monday night, and Straight delivered 29 to win the match between #1 and #2. Ballin' picked the wrong QB, again betting against Favre, but the unlikely TD pass to Scheffler pulled him through. Brady had 35 for the Only Bunch, but Winslow was the only other player to get a TD and one of two others to score more than 4. Ballin' leaned heavily on Braylon Edwards' 18 but got lots of 8-9 point contributions to make it stand up.

Big Red returned to form against the Illini. Holt, Wayne, Addai, and Fletcher led the way to getting Big over 100 for the 4th time in 8 games. Too bad he left Vrabel's 27 on the bench. Nice week for having 5 on a bye. The Illini got a great 31 point game from Brees who has finally come around. Another 19 from the Giants and Wilkins helped the cause, but Ward's 16 sat on the bench hoping that .... Gray could throw a TD to Reggie???? The 67 wasn't a horrible showing by the 1-7 Illini, but it wasn't going to touch Big Red this week.

The Woopiecushins won a squeaker over the traveling Reavers. The Pats D(21) and Derek Anderson (22) were huge for the Cushions. Welker did his part with 10, but when they needed 3 from Stokley and Wynn in crunch time, they produced 3.6, just enough. Many on Reavers played well, the Jags (14), Westbrook (16), and Rudd (10) played well, and there was even a Lee Evans (13) sighting, but after the game Reavers was heard in a 3 mile radius chewing out LJ Smith and Vincent Jackson. 15 yards between them would have won the game, but they did nothing.

Spit moved into 5th at 4-4 beating the Homies. Polish was led by Winfield's 14 and the Colts, Akers, and Vernon Davis added 30. Eli produced less than 0 with his arm, but the legs came through to get 6. (Yes, I admit that I like to pick on Eli.) The Homies got a Grossman like day from Griese (4 picks). Kicker Dawson (10) was really the only player to get fro the game as the Homies drop into 12th place.

The Raiders handed the Ogres their 3rd straight loss in spite of getting less than 8 from the WRs and RBs combined. The Charger D (27) was huge and Gates (16) and Peyton (17) put up big games to get the Raiders their win. The Ogres had Big Ben (15), Fast Willie (13), and Greg Jennings(14) playing solid ball, but only one other player was over 5 points leaving them 15 points short.

Ghostriders, we aren't calling it a comeback. We are calling it a loss to the Conicals who have 2 in a row now. Clovis finally got what they have been waiting for from Colston, a 20 point game. They were also carried by Detriot's 4 picks of Griese for 14 and Joey Galloway (12). The Ghosts were not helpless. Rivers threw for 3 TDs and 20 points and TJ scored 10, but Portis' 4.05 was the only other player over 4.

The Scuds got their second win in the lack luster rematch of the 2004 super bowl against the Hillbillies. It really was a pathetic display by the two former champs combining for just over 100 points. The Hillbillies had Palmer and Gostkowski get 10 points, but they were the only double digit players in the whole game. The Scuds had 5 players in the 7-9 point range and that was all that was needed. I'd call it a defensive game, but it might be better described as offensive.

The Brady Bunch Continues to Win

The Brady Bunch (formerly, back to CALI) wins again. The Hillbillies couldn't get enough to stop Brady's 44. Coles also had 19 and KC and Urlacher got in the double digits to support the cause. Harmony did have a great pickup in the Seahawk D with 30 and LJ is back on track with 13, but another disappointing performance by Palmer and Santana Moss kept it from being closer than 12. It will be interesting to see if the name change brings the downfall of the one man team.

Ballin' got their 5th straight win beating down the Ogres. It was a QB battle. Big Ben (24) leading Obispo (with little other help) and Culter (21) and TO leading the charge for Ballin'. Sadly for Obispo Ryans 23 sat on the bench, though in like fashion, Ballin' chose the Steel curtain (6) and dropped the Seahawks (30) for the 'Billies. Congrats Ballin' on moving into second place on a week when 2 or your top 3 were on a bye.

Big Red fell again. This week it was to the hard luck Ghostriders. The Ghostrdiers were solid from almost every position. Only 3 players didn't have at least 9 points and they still combined for 14. MJD, Gould, and Portis were over 10, but it was a TEAM win. Big Red had a solid outing in spite of the loss. Randy had another 2TDs for 19. The Cowboy D had 17, Barber had Hasselbeck were over 10 as well, but 6 player under 9 was just too many this week.

The Woopiecushions are still in forth, but have a much stronger hold on it after beating the Illini even with 5 players on a bye. Welker had another big 2 TD day to lead the Cushions. The Pats and Patrick Willis added 13 and 12 with Adrian Peterson cooling off to a modest 9. Leftwich added 9 before leaving the game with an injury. The Illini's hopes were dashed when the Colts stifled the Jags and knocked out Garrard along with any hope of Reggie Williams getting a TD pass. The Illini did get 24 for the opportunistic Giant D and Brees is back with another 14. Kevin Walter was a nice pick up, 3 yards short of a dozen points.

Conicals got what they needed from Dallas Clark to complete the only comeback this week against the hard luck Scuds. For those who are not familiar with the Conical's kicker, it is Bironas, who now holds the record for most field goals in a game (8). His 29 points led Clovis. The Lions added 10 and Boldin had 2 TDs for 13. The Scuds are wishing that they didn't hear the report that Maroney was going to start as that left Kenny Watson and his career day (26) on the bench. The Scuds did get TDs from Culpepper, Burleson, Derick Mason, Holmes, and Brandon Jacobs, but unfortunately they came up just short.

The Homies lead held up easily against Reavers. Josh Brown kicked for 18 to pace the Homies. Miller had 2 TDs, McNabb and Stallworth each had 1 and Ernest Graham had 191 total yards for 10 to seal the win. Kitna apparently needs closer oversight than the Europe touring Reavers could provide. He suffered another very sub-par game. McGahee, Cotchery and Roddy White did have strong games for Reavers. Roddy was 3 yards from an 18 point game, but it was an off week for the Reavers who fall back below .500. At least he gets to see London and Rome.

Spit 'n Polish had a solid outing to stop the struggling Raiders. Peyton and Vinatieri showed up for 24 for the Raiders, but nobody else was over 5 points as they totaled 44 points. We should note that the Raiders had 5 players either injured or out on byes. Spit got solid games from all positions (save the tight end). The Colts led the Polishers with 15, LenDale, Bush, and Toomer scored TDs and Eli had 2. I understand that the Raiders were supposed to give the he77, but aside from Peyton, they were much closer to looking like it. Could it be those 'playoffs are a stretch' words are eating away at the team? Nice gladiator work, Spit. Enjoy Europe.

There is a glut of teams at 3-4. It's looking like the playoff teams may start pulling away from the pack.

Week 6: CALI Rolls

CALI keeps rollin' as they punish Clovis. As usual, Brady led the way with a season high 37. Matt Stover added 18 as CALI has his second lowest total 75 of the year at. Clovis got 10 from Galloway and Ronnie Brown ran for 9, but 5 players less than 4 was rough.

Big Red was far from stellar, but had enough to keep the Scuds from a second win. Hasselbeck led the Red men with 18. The Pack (16) and Cooley (12) hit double digits and Randy Moss had another TD as well to get Red to 76. The Scuds leaned heavily on their Raven D who came through with 23 points. Burleson had 10 as well, but with Jacobs starting on Monday night Droughns stole the yards and the TD that might have put the Scuds over the top. Scuds may have gotten a steal picking up Bennett who is signing with the Bucs.

Ballin' is back in third getting a narrow victory to send Spit 'n Polish on their vacation. Braylon Edwards(21) and Gonzalez (18) had huge games. Norwood and Ray Lewis broke 10 as well which made up for Favre who had a rough outing and Rhodes who didn't play. Spit was led by Eli, Plax, Akers, and Zach Thomas. LenDale and Berrian scored TDs as well, but they came up 4 points short.

The Woopiecushions join the top 4 as they scored a season high 122 to send the Homies packin'. Adrian Peterson (33) and Derek Anderson (29) could have carried the Cushions to victory alone, but Welker (14) and Steve Smith (14) piled on as well. The Homies were led by Stallworth's 13 and Thomas Howard's 11, but 4 points from the running backs hurt. Hester had 19 on the bench, but Mark doesn't need to kick himself about it since he (or anyone else) wasn't going to touch the Cushions 122 anyway.

The Ogres had Roy Williams, Big Ben, and Fast Willie on a bye as they folded before the Hillbillies, but they might as well have sat the rest as nobody even made 10 points. By contrast, the Hillbillies got their revamped backfield rolling. LT had 4 TDs for 35, LJ had a dozen. Cason Palmer threw for 14 and Gostkowski kicked in 13. Not everything was rosy for Harmony, though. Their WR's combined for -.2 points.

The Raiders had bye week problems against as well as they laid down before Reavers. Manning, McDonald, Davenport, and Vinatieri's replacements scored 6 points as the chargers' 16 were the only thing the Raiders had to cheer about. Reavers faired much better with Garrard's 17 and the Jag D with 15. McGahee was also close to 10 as Reavers leaves for some Eurpoean fun with a victory.

In the battle of 1-4 teams, the Ghostriders won decisively. MJD finally really got it going with 23. TJ Housh also had 20. Curtis and Romo score 13 and Mushi had a TD as the Ghostman broke the century mark again, but this time they one. A search and rescue team was sent out for the Illini who were last seen clinging tightly to the basement floor. They found Edge and the Giants had 10 and Moore got a TD, but Kurt Warner who was expected to play well was quickly injured and had -.5 which left Bryant Johnson (1.4) to catch balls from QB Rattay who signed with the Cards on Wednesday morning. Thomas Jones broke 100 yards and Brees did show up with 16, but he was riding pine. It's a rough year for the Illini.

Week 5: The New Sheriff Gives Up His Badge

The Sheriff, Big Red passed his badge to the challager, CALI after losing by 24. Cali was led by Brady's 23 (again) and Stover added a dime. Back also had a nice move bringing in Ron Dayne to spell Rudi on his bye. Big Red finally got a good game from Torry Holt. He and Rackers had a dozen, but Addai was a late scratch, Moss was kept out of the end zone for the first time this year, and Hasselbeck had .32 vs the Steelers. Campbell's 18 and Feely's 17 could have made the difference for Big Red, but...those thigns happen.

Ballin' won a squeaker 50-49 and was lucky to do so against a Reavers team that had an off week. The Steel Curtain had 15 for Ballin', but the team had 0 TDs. Ballin' forgot the wisdom that he posted a while back about sitting Favre. Guess he was counting on Denver playing well against the Chargers. Sitting Fitzgerald (14) for Brandon Marshall (2.6). But it all worked out since Reaver's Kitna had -1.7 and yes, the Jag D gave up a TD with no time left. Witten's 13 and Ruud's 10 were the bright spots for Reavers who is kicking himself for having Reed (3) in and Kaeding (12) out. Is it time to bury Lee Evans yet? He has 5 points on the year.

The Ogres are back on the attack after last week's hiccup. They hammered Clovis 90 to 46. The brilliant moves of the week were bringing in Redskin D who kept the lid sealed on the Lions for 24 and Kris Brown who kicked for 23 (three 50+ yard field goals). Big Ben threw for 10 as the Ogres had 90 points on only 1 TD. Clovis was hit by the injury bug as well as the Ogres. Trent Green is gone for a while, Boldin was out again. Add to that Travis Henry being too busy smokin' pot to get in the end zone and it was a rough day. Ronnie Brown continues to be a bright spot for Clovis as he put up another 15 points and Dallas Clark found the end zone, too.

Hillbillies better hope they are too hurt to practice on Tuesday because they are not going to be greeted with any smiles. Spit and Polish gave them one heck of a shiner. Ben Watson had a huge day with 18. Eli figured out how to pass in the second half (only 3 completions in the first half) and threw a couple of TDs for 14 points and one was to Plax to get him 13. That was more than enough for an absent and inept Hillbillie squad. Gostkowski kicked for 11, but Tomlinson's 7 was the only other player over 5 points. Tomlinson sat down in the second half so that the pine rider, Turner could get 14 and LJ had .75 while the Colts started another pine rider, Keith (20). Pennington, the Seahawk D, and Fishy Jackson were shown the door after they collectively got just over 9 points.

The Woopiecushions blasted the Ghostriders 81-57. The Cushions rode the Pat's D for 18 and Folk's foot for 16. They also did well with a gutsy start of Derek Anderson (12 against the Pats D. The Ghosts had to deal with 2 stud WRs on a bye and the replacements scored next to nothing. Romo had his first poor outing (7). Kevin Jones and Portis both had problems locating the end zone, so the Titan's 16 were all that there was to write home about for the Ghosts. Woopie has been known to be rough on players (32 transactions in 5 weeks), but discarding Battle even after his TD?? That's tough.

Homies were sent home by the cross town/office rivals the Raiders. The Homies' Bear D had 12, but other than Heath Miller (8) there were no TDs and 2 over 3 points. Even their kicker Josh Brown had a dough nut. The Raiders, however, where ready to rumble. The Charger D led the way with 20. Najeh Davenport had a great day with 17. Peyton had his...yawn... 14 and Gates put up a dozen. McDonald found the end zone, too, just missing a 10 spot. Not sure what Parrish was doing on the bench when he was supposed to be starting, but the Raider management will have to decide if he will be cut for such non-sense. Fortunately, it didn't change the outcome of the game. You have to wonder if it was in response to the 'playoffs are a stretch' comment though.

The Scuds had a successful launch, beating the frightened Illini by 1. It was a defensive battle with Jacob's 10 and the Raven's 9 leading the way for the Scuds. The Illini had 14 from the Giant D and Wilkins kicking for 13, but 0 TDs sank them. The question that everyone is asking the Illini camp is how long until the plug is pulled on Drew Brees. The fans were chanting for Kurt Warner, and I think they just might be forced to make a change or lose their fan base. They made a good pick up in Selvin Young who is expected to get the carries from the pot smoker, Henry if/when he gets suspended. The Scuds are glad to had Jacobs back and have both halves of the Giant RB committee.

Week 4: Red Rolls Again, Illini No Shows

The battle of undefeateds went to the powerhouse Big Red. The Ogres can't complain mush as they only managed 56 points with Big Ben the only one to get into double digits with 14. Big Red had Moss come through again with 18, Hasselbeck threw for 15 and Addai had 14. Even Vrabel had a TD getting Big Red to 84, second highest score in a low scoring week. Ogres drop 2 spots, but stay in the top 4 for playoff contention.

The other still undefeated team, Back to CALI got a bye week. They put up 62, but could have won with 6 against the Absent Illini. CALI got 20 from Brady, 10 for Urlacher and Coles and nothing else mattered. Absent started only 7 players. One of those was on a bye and another was out. Wilkins scored 0, so only 4 players contributed. Jordan scored 4.05 before getting injured to lead the team, but Denver's D had -4 to erase that leaving 3 points for the Frightened Illini.

Ballin' moved into 3rd place beating the Homies who lost Caddy for the season. Ballin' had a solid team effort. Favre led the team with 17 and Braylon Edwards had 10, but the key was having only 2 players less than 5 points. Homies had the stud with the Bear D putting up 19 and Josh Brown kicking for 11, but 6 players scored less than 3.

The Hillbillies revamped team seems to have made a turn around knocking down the Reavers to vault into 5th place. New acquisitions Seattle D and Anrde Davis were among the leaders with 19 and 12 points respectively. LT seems to be back with 15 (though 3 below the projection) and Gostkowski kicked for 10. Reavers got another strong Kitna game with 14. McGahee got 100 yards, but missed the end zone again. Lynch and Witten had 9+ to contribute, but Reavers struggled in the defense and kicking game, only getting 12 points from those positions as they fall to 2-2.

The Raiders took it to the Cushions with the high score of the week. Peyton had a big day with 27. Jerry Porter finally produced with 14 and Merry Man had 11 to lead the Raiders who had less than 5 from their backfield. The Woopiecushions boldly started Derek Anderson against the Ravens and were rewarded with 14 and Patrick Willis had 11. 4 Others were in the 8-9 range, but their receiving corps failed them with 6 points which wasn't enough as the Cushions drop to 2-2. In other Raider news, many players expressed their disappointment when the coach voiced his opinion that the playoffs were a ‘stretch’ for them. We'll see what becomes of it. Was it a brilliant motivational move or sewing the seeds of discord and apathy?

The Ghostriders are the #3 scoring team and finally got a win. Romo opened it up again with 30. TJ and the Buc D also got into double digits to beat down the struggling Scuds. The Scuds got 19 from Holmes and 7 from Pennington (who was dropped following the game, but Maroney sat out and has become a huge disappointment along with the Raven's 2. One could hardly blame the Scuds for leaving Culpepper's 32 on the bench, but that was painful. I figure the same people who started Culpepper where the same ones who had the insight and guts to start Derek Anderson when he played the Bengals. I have to ask, is it just me or does it seem strange that the Patriot (Maroney) is helping shoot down the Scuds each week?

Spit 'n Polish fell again, this week it was to Clovis. Both teams are now 1-3. IDP, Hobbs got 4.5 to outscore Watson's .6 to get the win by 1 point. Ronnie Brown continues to produce with 17 this week. Dallas Clark picked-up for injured Marvin Harrison and score 15. to lead Clovis who had barely 1 point for his receivers. Spit got 12 from Winfield and 6 others were between 6 and 9, but Berrian needed 3 more yards to deliver the victory.

Week 4: In Progress

The most important battle of the week is over. It was an overwhelming victory. Cory 150 Elk 0. Seriously, we hope your body is recovering and that dealing with insurance isn't/hasn't been too big of a nightmare.

How can you lose in survival picking a 3-0 how has crushed the competition against a 1-2 that is playing QB by committee? Pick the Steelers.

OK, back to the stuff that matters ;)

The battle of undefeateds is underway. It looks like it is going to go to Big Red, but the Ogres aren't out of it yet. Red has a 6 point lead with Randy Moss and Vrabel yet to got, while the Ogres nee a hug Chad Johnson day to win.

The other undefeated team, Back to CALI is having a field day against the absent Illini. The Illini is asking Brees to show up, but being that he is on bye and 3 other positions are empty, the rest of us are asking the Illini to show up.

Ballin' took it to the Homies, beating them by 24.

The Woopiecushions look like they are going to go down to the cross town rival, Raiders. The Pats D and Welker need to come up with 28 to make this a ball game.

Reavers clings to a slim 5 point lead going into Monday night, but they have nothing else to throw at the Hillbillies who still have Pat's kicker Gostkowski and a QB named Palmer.

Spit 'n Polish is holding a 2 point lead over Clovis'. IDP, Hobbs is yet to play for Clovis while Ben Watson is waiting to play for Spit.

The Scuds and Ghostriders are both looking to get their first win. The Ghostriders have a huge lead in the contest. Against TJ Housh and a 21 point lead, it doesn't look like the Scud's Maroney will have a chance to deliver the victory.