Week 3 Recap

Fresh Legs: 119.25
ChamPeons: 88.50

Game Summary: Four touchdown passes from Carson Palmer put Baron in control, and the legs of Brian Westbrook put the game away. The kick in the crotch came when Frank Gore fumbled near the goal line, taking away 3 Champ points instead of giving 6. Westbrook's 33 points represented the highest individual total of the week.

Fresh Legs (2-1): The supposedly questionable Brian Westbrook is proving to be worth everything Baron hoped for when he 1) made him his first ever player and 2) traded away his 1st rounder this year for. The maligned (by me) Reggie Brown (7.50) had his first non-td game, but took in 7 passes for 100+ yds and is a fine WR3 this season. Ahman Green (16) is having a better season than the man kept over him (Thomas Jones- 6.50) so far. Green (along with Tatum Bell) have every owner that passed on them wondering why. For the second straight week, Baron sets a personal high score, and for the first time ever has a high-score week in the VUFSA. Additionally, Baron now has the highest overall point total for the league on the season, the first owner not named Ed Schillinger to have that title since Week 1 of last season.

ChamPeons (2-1): The good fortune of Champ came to an end on two fronts- as the loss blemished their sparkling record, and his two 49er studs (Frank Gore and Vernon Davis) were hurt on the same play. Davis is out for at least a month, whereas Gore is questionable for next week. Andre Johnson (12.50) is quietly having the breakout year he was supposed to be having the last two seasons. Joseph Addai (2.50) is tough to judge after this game- the Jags are maybe the best defense in the world, especially against the run- but his performance hurts as a starting RB. The VUFSWA wondered aloud if they could continue to get dual production from Laurence Maroney (6.50) and Corey Dillon (1); this week they didn't. Again, Daunte Culpepper's fantasy numbers (13.25) remain solid despite reality.

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The Slumpbusters: 116.00
Naj Davenport's Poop: 112.75

Game Summary: When I got home from work at 11e on Monday, this game was .25 points apart. Michael Vick's garbage time rushing eventually led to a comfy Eli win, but it was really a good heavyweight fight. Despite the Denver Bells not actually facing off, Mike's shit game hurt way more than Tatum's fantasy benching. Hines Ward not showing up in a high scoring divisional game was a huge factor here. SLM holds their breath until Friday morning.

The Slumpbusters (2-1): Five double digit scorers led by Clinton Portis' 24 points in his SLM debut. Michael Vick (10) was fine in his first start, but as fate would have it Bulger was a better start this week. Eli still lacks a defined every week starter, although that isn't an all together bad thing. Roy Williams (15.50) proved (for a week at least) to be worthy of the #6 pick in the draft, making this the highly touted WRs corps best week. The other R. Williams at WR, not as good a game. Gieryna probably outthought himself here, as keeping Tatum Bell in the starting lineup would have given him our first 120 point performance of the season. Eli is now 3-0 in week 3s, averaging 127.67 points in that span.

Naj Davenport's Poop (1-2): Tough, tough week for Viano to swallow, losing with the 5th highest score all year, and the most point of any loser all season long. It had to be horrible on Monday, watching Jerious Norwood do nothing while Michael Vick made up the deficit without contest. Willie Parker (25.50) is just ridiculous right now, though Ronnie Brown (10) is struggling a bit in the Miami offense. Mike Bell's 1 point performance means that his role is almost gone in Denver right now, maybe he'll pop back up late in the season if Tatum wears down. Hines Ward has the famous name, but he's a very average WR right now; Javon Walker (19.50) is the teams WR1. Greg Jennings (12.50) had one sensational play lead to a super week in the WR3-by-comittee Andy will deploy. Despite being just one point behind the league leader, is below .500 on the season.

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The Nihilist Marmot: 92.75
Tice's Partyboat: 79.75

Game Summary: Sunday morning brought no good news for TPB, as he awoke to an injured Chris Brown, Ruben Droughns and Adam Vinateri. Droughns remained in the lineup based on positive pregame news, but tossed a zero on the board, helping TNM overcome a poopy Kurt Warner.

The Nihilist Marmot (2-1): Darrell Jackson (18) carried the load for JR, as one of just 2 players in double figures. Cadillac Williams and his intact spleen managed to produce 11 points for the other. Tiki Barber (9) picked a good week to have a bad performance, and newest Marmot DeShaun Foster (6.50) chipped in respectably. The addition of Travis Henry (7) continues to pay dividends for Radcliffe, as he's a decent flex play when he's the man. An uninspiring week for TNM, but after a rough loss last week it just good to get back into the win column before a really tough bye week.

Tice's Partyboat (0-3): If VUFSA Football were VUFSA Baseball, Drew Wolf would be playing the role of Ed Schillinger. Armed with a talented team, sits at the bottom of the standings without a really good reason. Has played an awfully tough slate so far, but that can't be to blame for the 2nd lowest cumulative score in the league. Had a miserable Monday Night, with 4 players combining for 19.50 points when 30+ were needed. Antwaan Randle El (8.50) had a better week than Randy Moss has all year, and Keyshawn Johnson is proving to be a rock solid WR2 option for any team. Edgerrin James is still a solid back, but it's becoming clearer every week that he's past his prime and the Arizona O-Line isn't helping him. Drew is now a combined 1-8 through the season's first 3 weeks over the past 3 years.

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Madd Skillz: 82.50
Father Abraham: 81.25

Game Summary: The second of two Monday Night Thunderings this week, as former FA WR Joe Horn put up 3.50 points on Monday to lead SKL to 3-0. Holding a slim lead after the 1st set of games, got a great performance from Matt Hasselbeck to keep it within Horn's range.

Madd Skillz (3-0): A shameful trio of feats this week: Least points of any winner; lowest score in franchise history; one of 2 teams to win while recording their lowest score ever. Has to be relieved winning a game in which the league's two best players sat out. Big time disappointment from the Bengals Johnson, especially Chad. A zero from the flex spot and a 1 from the RB3 spot opened the door for the much-maligned Kevan Barlow (9) to become the team's second leading scorer. This game all came down to Hasselbeck however, as his heroic performance rewarded my misplaced loyalty and took the team to 3-0. Schillinger is now 10-1 in games played before Week 5.

Father Abraham (1-2): If Lincoln had a "people to kill" list, I'm sure I would be on it. Got a good game from Donovan McNabb (21.50) but was hurt by his lack of production once the game was in hand- the opposite of Hasselbeck, who threw 4 TDs after establishing a 2 TD lead. Anquan Boldin (11.50) was as good as ever, but Jamal Lewis (8) and Fred Taylor (7.50) left something to be desired after facing two favorable run defenses. Drew Bennett (7.50) continues his reign as a very good flex play. This is the second straight week that Souzek has lost by 0.75 points, and sits at 1-2 despite being a mere 2 points from 3-0. I think it's official that Eli's luck in Fantasy Football is no longer worst in the league. It's like comparing the Red Sox 'curse' to the Cubs'.

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Cellar Dwellers: 95.75
Who is Ron Mexico: 94.00

Game Summary: Despite the redemption of Li'l Eli Manning and TJ Housmandzadeh, WIRM falls just a bit short because of Tom Brady's garbage time greatness. A relatively high scoring affair when you consider that 5 players in the matchup had 0.25 points or less. Dave Tomke has gone on record as saying that "Sean Payton is an asshole" after the New Orleans coach denied Reggie Bush the precious extra 2 points that Dave needed on Monday night.

Cellar Dwellers (2-1): Good News: 2-1 on the season. Bad News: I think we all know what's coming here. I hope Stem enjoyed Shaun Alexander's 11 points this week, because they're all he'll have to go on for a while. Luckily, Kevin Jones (18.50) seems to finally be getting well, and though LaMont Jordan is terrible, he's at least playing next week. Donte Stallworth's last second deactivation hurt in the form of a zeroed out flex spot, and Anthony Thomas' irrelevance didn't help either. The -1 from Plaxico Burress is damning in 2 ways: he was miserable when he was in and he wasn't in long enough to make up for his mistakes, benched in the second half. I just wrote how keeping Burress over Roy Williams was smart and now I look like a jackass.

Who Is Ron Mexico (0-3): Housmandzadeh and Eli Manning were 20+ point bright spots this week, as were the league's leading WR Muhsin Muhammed (9.50) and Jeff Wilkins (10). Chester Taylor (8.50) had a down week, but that'll happen when you play the Bears, and Reggie Bush fell just short on Monday Night. Ron Dayne (7.50) now appears to be a safe play every week, and should only improve as the season moves forward. Deion Branch didn't do a ton in his 2006 debut, but the all-of-a-sudden air-oriented Seahawk offense will only help Dave's WRs. Despite a 52 point outing in Week 1, Dave's scoring average is up almost 5 full points from last season, and he's averaging 94.63 points over the last two weeks.

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Later this week: A Jamiefied Power Rankings, a data-rich post from the Wolfman (hopefully), the Week 4 preview, and the VUFSA's 30,000th point.