Week 2 Preview

Game of the Week

Madd Skillz vs. The Nihilist Marmot (+16)

The two highest scoring teams from Week 1 do battle here...JR's smack talk has been waiting for this matchup all year long, quoting the classic film and making note of Ed's tremendous amount of Johnson...However "13 year olds, dude. 13 year olds" is my most relevant 'quote 'from the movie in recent times...Schillinger holds a 4-1 edge over Radcliffe all-time, though JR won the most recent battle, a crucial 136.50-130.25 win in Week 13 of last season.

News and Notes, SKL (1-0)

The Steve Smith saga continues, the talented WR refuses to practice and is again questionable for this week...After a donut hole in his place last week, a trade should be consumated soon to upgrade the WR corps...Great matchups for the Bengals Johnson again, as Rudi was great in Week 1 and has a history of torching the Browns...Also, SKL teammate Kellen Winslow vowed that Cleveland would shut down Chad Johnson, and Chad loves when people "diss" him...LaDanaian Tomlinson should continue his strong start to the season against Tennessee...BRANDON JACOBS is tenatively in the flex spot, though my mancrush is rapidly leading to my overvaluing of his abilities...Key Injuries: Steve Smith (questionable), Ed Reed (questionable)

News and Notes, TNM (1-0)

Week 1 stallion Kurt Warner is again a solid play, but should find the Seattle defense a bit different from the 49er D...trouble at the RB spots, as Cadillac is again struggling with back spasms after leaving last week early, and Week 1 suprise Travis Henry is out of the lineup with uncertain status in TEN...Luckily, Brian Westbrook has been hobbled in practice, which makes Corell Buckhalter a decent play at RB3...Darrell Jackson will have at least one more week as the Seahawk's #1 air target, then he has to share with Deion Branch...Amazingly good opponents for all 4 WR in the lineup; Hou, Hou, Ari, Cle...Key Injuries: Travis Henry (questionable), Carnell Willams (probable), TJ Houshmandzadeh (probable)

On Deck

ChamPeons vs. The Slumpbusters (-14.5)

With the two trigger-happiest teams playing here, it worth noting that at 12:47am on Tuesday, the league set a (still continuing) record for "latest first trade of the season," and we're still waiting...2nd matchup of undefeateds this week..14 of the matchup's 26 starters (54%) come from 3 different NFL games (STL-SF, DAL-WAS, MIA-BUF)...Scintillating potential on Sunday Night, as Dallas' top RB/WR (J. Jones/Owens- CHM) go against Washington's top RB/WR (Portis, S. Moss- SLM)...Gieryna leads Champ 2-1 alltime, winning their only meeting last season.

News and Notes, CHM (1-0)

We'll find out what to expect from Daunte Culpepper this season based on his performance at home against Buffalo this week. In a small way, we'll know how much of a threat Champ is going to be all season based on the Captain's game...Got good numbers from both Patriot backs last week, and should see a repeat performance against the Jets...Despite Drew Bledsoe's struggles, Terrell Owens found the end zone and everything is calm in Dallas so far- good news for CHM...The best running back in 2006 should have another solid game against the Rams this week, Frank Gore is for real...If Champ loses by one point, it will no doubt because Clutch and Steady Eddie Kennison is on the bench...Key Injuries: Vernon Davis (probable)

News and Notes, SLM (1-0)

When you own Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson and Torry Holt, you have 4 games on the schedule you're guaranteed giddy about, and this is one of them...Roy Williams shot his mouth off about the Bears defense this week, so he'll probably be dead by Monday Morning...Roy's impending death is a really tough break for Eli...Willis McGahee isn't out of the SLM doghouse yet, but he's getting good touches in Dick Jauron's gameplan; Miami is another tough test...Tatum Bell is shaping up to be the draft's best steal, as the 4th rounder is playing and gets KC with a banged up Mike Bell...Key Injuries: Clinton Portis (questionable), Jeremy Shockey (probable)

The 3 Spot

Tice's Partyboat vs. Naj Davenport's Poop (-13)

The teams that tied for 4th in our preseason poll both suffered setbacks in Week 1, and one of them is staring down the barrel at 0-2, reminiscent of last year when Eli and Drew went head-to-head with a lot on an early season game...The league's first true blockbuster trade was the Corey Dillon-Terrell Owens swap of 2004, between these two franchises. I found it interesting that both of those players are both on Champ's team now. I don't know why that's interesting, but I do know that I probably need help...Viano has won 3 of the 5 meetings between the two, including both games last season.

News and Notes, TPB (0-1)

I think Randy Moss is in for a long season. I emailed Eli and mentioned that If Dusty Baker coached a football team, his name would be Art Shell. He responded that if Neifi Perez played quarterback, his name would be Aaron Brooks. Not good for Moss, and thus not good for Drew's WR1...Assuming that Ruben Droughns puts a meager 2 point performance behind him and starts throwing up 9-13 pts/wk again, the RBs here look good...1st rounder Chris Brown is back in a good situation with Travis Henry hurting...Adam Vinateri is going to break double digits again against Houston, and if the Wolfman has some great luck, they will be the Colts' only points...Donald Driver was good in week 1 against the Bears, so he should have no problems against the Saints...Slick pickup signing Koren Robinson...Key Injuries: None

News and Notes, NDP (0-1)

Todd Heap being 80% aside, things set up well for the Poop Master and his mates...Ronnie Brown gets a ton more breathing room, moving from the Steeler defense to the Bills, though Willie Parker does draw a tough Jacksonville line...Mike Bell will play, and as long as he's the goal line guy, he'll be worthy of at a starting spot all year...Jerious Norwood is a poor man's Brandon Jacobs. Jacobs however, is a poor man...If you want to know why Viano is a considerable favorite in this game, here's why: Peyton Manning vs. Houston (career): 8 games- 263 ypg, 19 TDS, 116.0 QB rating...Key Injuries: Todd Heap (questionable), Mike Bell (probable)

Batting Cleanup

Father Abraham vs. Cellar Dwellers (pk)

The first pickit game of the season because we have no idea what to make of either team right now...I don't think Week 1 was representative of what either team will do each week, but we really can't know for sure...CD can't be that bad all the time, but is he going to be dominant and live up to the #3 preaseason ranking, or fall to average...Is FA going to fall down, or maintain their competitive pace all year...Stem is 3-1 lifetime against Souzek.

News and Notes, FA (1-0)

A big red "Q" by the name of Jamal Lewis is daunting, but the flaming paper suggests he'll be ok. That's good news for this week, but concerning for the long run as Lewis needs 16 100% healthy games for FA to make the playoffs...Troy Williamson got some good looks from Brad Johnson on Monday, and will be a stronger and stronger play as the season goes on...Drew Bennett and Kerry Collins hooked up well and that's a strong flex play there...Fred Taylor does have a pretty good history with the Steelers, but this week he's a real tough matchup on Monday Night...Donovan McNabb, while a stud again, will not have the same success as he did against Houston- which would be troubling...Key Injuries: Jamal Lewis (questionable)

News and Notes, CD (0-1)

Let down in supreme fashion by all of his running backs, and while this week gets better for Shaun Alexander (100 ypg and 14 td in 8 games against ARI), it's a tough road for Kevin Jones against the Bears and LaMont Jordan with his offensive line (now sans Robert Gallery) against anyone, let alone Baltimore...This is where Alexander has to defend his VUFSA MVP trophy and carry CD...Nothing wrong with the WR crew, which may actually have become #1 on the league's depth chart after a very impressive week 1...Tom Brady is a mystery to me this season- and it only gets murkier without Deion Branch. What kind of run/pass ratio we see from the Patriots this week will give some insight...Key Injuries: WHY IS TOM BRADY ALWAYS (Probable)

The 5 Hole

Who is Ron Mexico vs. Fresh Legs (-18)

I wonder when we'll stop referring to these two as 'the expansion teams'...Baron is well on his way to shedding the handicapped label, as the tough luck loser last week...Dave went the other direction...All eyes in this matchup on the Saints backfield...Baron and Dave have split the two meetings in this storied rivalry.

News and Notes, WIRM (0-1)

Reggie Bush is about to become a prime-time player, and going against Green Bay is a great time to cement that...Chester Taylor and DeShaun Foster go head to head in real life, and though Foster struggled, Taylor was awesome in week 1...Marques Colston is a nice player, and having a WR with TE eligiblity is cool- is he really good enough to relegate Chris Cooley to the bench...Cooley is too good a TE to sit every week...Key Injuries: None

News and Notes, FL (0-1)

Carson Palmer better get his ass in gear against the Browns this week, a team he averages 2 TDs/game against...Brian Westbrook's health is not such a major problem this week as it is long term- can he stay healthy for 16 games?...Deuce McAllister's potentially lessened role is also troubling...On the other side, Ahman Green looked great, and it's a wonder he's not starting against a shitty Saints team over Dominic Rhodes who looked lost on Sunday. Houston matchup or not...Key Injuries: 2 questionable defenders

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Completely edited- I made a major mathematical mistake. (9/15- 8p)

A follow up to the recap's query about lower scoring weeks. I went through and figured out league-wide weekly averages, and this was actually a below average week that just lacked both high (and low) end scores. At 95.00 across 10 teams last week, we outscored just 2 of our 14 weeks last season (high of 117.07 and low of 93.90) and only 1 of our weeks from 2004. However, with the NFL having the lowest scoring weekend since 1991, my concern may have been an overreaction.