Around the VUFSA: Week Five

In this week's installment of Around the VUFSA, the last remaining unbeaten team lost (damn you, Eli), Tomke's five Lions brought some serious Thunder against Ed, Drew lost his second straight match-up, and JR won the closest contest of the season to improve to 3-2. All in all, seven teams are within one game of first, while the bottom three teams (Ed, Welty, Baron) have one combined win.

Jamie Looks Hot 80.50-Fruit on the Bottom 79.25
What Happened: JR won by 1.25 points mostly because Welty didn't bother to swap out two defenders who were on byes. Perhaps, much like the Miami Dolphins, Welty is attempting to position himself to select Andrew Luck with the top pick in next year's draft (although I doubt it since he has Michael Vick), or maybe he was so distracted by the NLCS that he simply forgot to check. Brandon Pettigrew out-thundered Johnny Knox 9.00-1.00 to lead JR to the win. Matt Ryan underperformed, and Mason Crosby was Welty's second best scorer.
JLH (3-2): Mr. Radcliffe pulled off the victory despite only getting four touchdowns from his entire roster. One of those came from Pettigrew (9.00) on Monday night. Shonn Greene had 83 yards rushing and a score (15.00). Greg Jennings had JR's second best total with 12.00 (four catches, 82 yards, and a score). Ahmad Bradshaw recorded double-digits thanks to a two-point conversion (10.00). Players who scored more points than Matt Ryan (7.50): Greene, Jennings, Bradshaw, Pettigrew, and Neil Rackers (9.00). JR selected the wrong Carolina running back, going with Jonathan Stewart (2.50), while DeAngelo Williams (17.50) was on the bench. MVP: Greene with 92 total yards and a score against New England. LVP: Matt Ryan. Atlanta's quarterback has been a disappointment all season (almost Rivers-esque). Ryan's numbers of 167 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions just won't get it done.
FOTB (0-5): Vick (21.50) threw for 315 yards and two scores and rushed for 90 yards, but he was done in by four interceptions. Denarius Moore and Mike Williams combined for 0.50 points. Welty's squad also managed just four touchdowns, with Jeremy Maclin (11.00) and Knowshon Moreno (6.50--no rushing yards, all receiving). Mason Crosby (14.00) scored the second-most points for Welty. It's usually not a good sign when your kicker is the second-best player on your team. Jared Allen (10.75) was the fourth-best, so without his only defender and kicker, Welty's team managed fewer than 50 points. Yikes. MVP: Mason Crosby. Crosby made four field goals (including one from 56 yards) and an extra point. LVP: Non-Maclin wide receivers. The four other wide outs combined for 4.50 points.

Who is Ron Mexico 122.25-Bobby Engram 118.25
What Happened: Tomke trailed by 40 points going into the Monday night game, and his five Lions (specifically Jahvid Best and Matthew Stafford) combined for 46.75 points to keep Edwin winless. Ed had his best day of the year with six guys scoring at least 12.50 points. Unfortunately for him, Tomke got huge days from Best and BenJarvus Green-Ellis. The tide of this game turned when Best ripped off an 88-yard touchdown run. Another factor was that Stafford threw a bunch to Calvin Johnson and not much to Nate Burleson.
WIRM (4-1): Darren McFadden (6.00) and Stafford (17.75) were average, but Best (24.00 and Green-Ellis (25.50) picked up the slack. Best rushed for 163 yards, and Green-Ellis had 149 total yards and two touchdowns. DeSean Jackson (12.50) and Roddy White (11.00) each caught a touchdown, while Jimmy Graham had eight grabs for 129 yards (10.00). MVP: Green-Ellis. New England's new found running game is a boost to Tomke's roster. BJE is the least likely of the Tomke's three backs to go off, and it means good things if he can keep it up. LVP: Eric Decker. Two catches for -4 yards (1.00) is less than ideal.
BE (0-5): Philip Rivers had 250 yards and two TDs, but he also committed two turnovers (16.50). Vernon Davis caught two touchdowns (14.50), while Kevin Walter, MJD, Chris Johnson, Jermaine Gresham, and Beanie Wells each had a touchdown. This was by far Ed's best week of the year, and it still wasn't enough. I'm sure he would have loved to have played another wide receiver other than Burleson, but his other two (Britt, Andre Johnson) are both injured. MVP: Davis. It is rare to get two scores from a tight end, and with the loss of Josh Morgan, Davis is probably San Francisco's best receiver. The problem is, Ed traded him to me for a third round pick. LVP: Burleson (1.00). Stafford does such a good job of spreading around the ball, and it really hurt that he only found Burleson once.

Dexter McClusterfunk 130.25-Phil Powell Rules 112.00
What Happened: Eli had six guys put up double-figure totals, while I only managed four. Calvin Johnson was unable to overcome a 32-point deficit by himself on Monday night. Fred Jackson and Cam Newton continued to be really awesome, and Stephen Gostkowski reached double figures as well (I think he even registered a tackle or something like that). On the other side, Adrian Peterson took out his frustration on Cardinals. Aaron Rodgers and Calvin Johnson put up solid days as well, but there wasn't a whole lot other than that.
DMC (4-1): Jackson had 196 total yards and touchdown (24.50). I know that the first pick of the second round is probably to early for the STEAL OF THE DRAFT, but Jackson has been stellar all year for Eli. I think Cam Newton (25.00--three touchdowns) qualifies as the best waiver wire pick-up of the year. Lynch (15.50) and Mark Ingram (10.00) both added touchdowns. Gostkowski (12.25) made three field goals and three extra points). MVP: Jackson (again). He just continues to be awesome. As long as the Bills keep playing well, Jackson will continue to put up at least 15 points every week. LVP: Jacoby Jones. Getting the start in place of the injured Andre Johnson should have meant more than one catch for Jones (1.00).
PPR (4-1): Adrian Peterson rushed for 122 yards and three scores (30.00). Johnson continued to be awesome with five grabs for 130 yards and a score (14.50). Rodgers (25.50) had almost 400 yards and two scores. Michael Turner found the end zone (and then the Falcons stopped running the ball). The rest of the lineup was a whole lot of meh. And against the numbers Eli's team put up, meh is not going to get it done. MVP: Peterson. He gashed the Cardinals and was undoubtedly much happier with the play calling in that contest. LVP: Brandon Lloyd (1.50) had one catch for 20 yards, and that was on Denver's final drive of the game.

ChamPeons 115.50-Pantry Cereals 84.75
What Happened: Tom Brady and Wes Welker were merely average (23.50 combined), and Drew's two running backs combined for 3.50 points. Champ's three running backs combined for 36.50, and Drew Brees continued to do what he does (put up good numbers). Sebastian Janikowski (16.00) outscored everyone on Drew's roster except Dwayne Bowe, which is good for Sebastian but bad for Drew. Victor Cruz had another big day, and Michael Jenkins's 0.00 wasn't the lowest total in this contest, as Ryan Grant put up -1.50 for Drew.
CP (3-2): Brees (24.00) tossed for 359 yards and two scores. Cruz (15.50) had 8 catches for 161 yards and a score. LeSean McCoy had 107 total yards and a score (17.00), and Matt Forte had 151 total yards (14.00). Steve Smith had 79 receiving yards a touchdown (10.50). MVP: Cruz. The Giants' rookie had another big week, and he has quickly become Eli Manning's favorite target. LVP: Jenkins. He did have 32 receiving yards, but he lost it all thanks to a fumble.
PC (3-2): Brady only threw for one touchdown this week (partially offset by an interception), he had the nerve to throw it to someone other than Welker. Bowe (21.50) had two touchdowns and 128 yards receiving in KC's first win of the year. Janikowski made four field goals (including three from 50+). Other than that, there isn't a whole lot worth mentioning. Drew can hate the schedule makers for having Ray Rice and Rashard Mendenhall both be on byes at the same time. MVP: Bowe. He had struggled mightily through most of the season (not his fault), and this was a good game to get him going for the rest of the year. LVP: Grant. 24 total yards were negated by a fumble. It's a pretty strong statement saying that Drew would have been better off playing one of his guys who were on a bye.

Let My Monkeys Go 126.75-Waiting for Goodell 78.50
What Happened: Viano had three guys who scored more points (including kicker Nick Novak) than Baron's best guy. Baron decided to sit Big Ben, and that turned out to be a tremendous mistake. Pierre Garcon continues to be Curtis Painter's favorite wide receiver (two more touchdowns), and Willis McGahee actually outperformed Ryan Mathews. Frank Gore, Arian Foster, and Mike Wallace were good for Baron, and no one else was.
LMMG (3-2): Matt Schaub (20.00) passed for 400+ yards and two touchdowns but also had two interceptions. Garcon (20.50) had five catches for 125 yards and two scores. AJ Green and Greg Olson each had touchdowns, while Mathews had 132 total yards and McGahee had 125 total yards. Novak (18.00) made five field goals to be the highest scoring kicker of the week. MVP: Novak. Garcon could go here, but we should reward the kicker for making five field goals. LVP: Vincent Jackson. Jackson caught three passes for 34 yards (2.50), and was Viano's lowest scorer on offense.
WFG (0-5): The good news for Baron (if you want to look at it that way) is that even if he had started Big Ben, he still would have lost. Six of Baron's starters on offense (including Josh Freeman) scored fewer than 10 points. Gore had 143 total yards and a score (16.50), and Wallace had 82 receiving yards and a touchdown (13.50). Foster pitched in with 184 total yards (13.50). MVP: Gore. He has had two solid weeks after being not very good to start the year. LVP: Freeman. There are (sadly) a lot of options here, but Freeman was the worst with only 187 yards and two picks (1.50).