WPI Fantasy League: Week 8

It was a week of high scoring and big-time blowouts in the WPI Fantasy League. Let’s take a look at the carnage.

Our Members:
- Michael Ash of WPI (We Play To Win The Game)
- Nick Athan of WPI (Warpaint Pubs)
- Adam Best of ArrowheadAddict.com (Arrowhead Addicts)
- Darren Carter of WPI (Sphinx Domination)
- Pat Clifton of WPI (Team Pat Is God)
- Topher Dean of WPI (Waste of Space)
- Chris Thorman of ArrowheadPride.com (Arrowhead Pride)
- C.E. Wendler of WPI (The Runnamuckers)

Week 8 Recap:

The Runnamuckers (99.84)
We Play To Win The Game (85.44)

Over the past few weeks I have bemoaned the fact that the Jay Cutler to Brandon Marshall combo hasn’t been producing like it did for the first few weeks of the season. So with Denver on their bye week, I turned to another QB/WR pairing – the dynamic duo of J.T. O’Sullivan and Isaac Bruce.

The 49ers pair combined for a whopping 7 points in Week 8, making Cutler and Marshall look like Joe Montana and Jerry Rice by comparison. Still, thanks to a big 29 point game from Santana Moss and solid efforts from Clinton Portis and Marion Barber, I was actually leading until the Monday night game.

C.E. got nearly 30 points from Kurt Warner and a combined 27 from the Chargers’ Antonio Gates and Nate Kaeding. But it was the 15 point game turned in by the Titans’ Chris Johnson on Monday night that sealed the win, bringing The Runnamuckers within striking distance of first place.

Arrowhead Addicts (102.90)
Team Pat is God (65.12)

Addicts wins! Addicts wins! The six-game losing streak is history thanks to large part to Brett Favre and LaDanian Tomlinson, who both scored over 20 points on the week. Strong play from his defense and kicker also aided Adam’s cause, as he got a combined 24 points from Cleveland’s Phil Dawson and the Baltimore D.

Pat had a 25 point effort from Peyton Manning and got solid contributions from Jamal Lewis and Tony Gonzalez. But the Arrowhead Express was just too much to overcome.

Waste of Space (105.72)
Warpaint Pubs (66.30)

Topher brought a well-rounded attack, with five of his roster slots accounting for at least 15 points. Steve Smith led all scorers with 23, and Jake Delhomme, Andre Johnson, Frank Gore, and the Giants’ defense all scored in the high teens.

The last minute scratch of Steven Jackson hurt Nick’s cause, as did the continued injury to Tony Romo, who – unlike in real life – has managed to hang onto his spot as a starter despite his broken finger.

Sphnix Domination (127.34)
Arrowhead Pride (46.02)

It was clearly not Arrowhead’s Pride week. Chris got a 16 point effort from Donovan McNabb, but had little else to combat Sphinx’s combo of Philip Rivers and Brian Westbrook. That pairing combined for over 70 points and had the game won all by themselves. Solid outings from Thomas Jones and Larry Fitzgerald were just the final touches on one of the league’s bigger blowouts this season.

Week 8 Transactions:

- It was a busy week for roster maneuvering, kicked off by C.E. making a few adjustments. He let go of Eli Manning for Chargers’ WR Vincent Jackson and dropped the Jets’ defense to pick up Philadelphia’s.

- In need of a starting QB for the week, I dropped the injured Matt Hasselbeck and picked up J.T. O’Sullivan.

- C.E. was back at it, sending Darren McFadden to the scrap heap for Denver RB Michael Pittman.

- Darren changed running backs, dropping Felix Jones for the Patriots’ Sammy Morris. Then he let go of Jerricho Cottchery and added the Jacksonville defense.

- Surely hoping to take advantage of the Jets’ advantageous matchup against Tyler Thigpen, C.E. went back and reversed one of his previous transactions, dropping the Eagles’ defense to re-claim New York’s. He also dropped Isaac Bruce for Philly WR Kevin Curtis.

- I dropped Bengals’ RB Chris Perry for Atlanta kicker Jason Elam. Then, having already grabbed O’Sullivan, I claimed Isaac Bruce off waivers, hoping – to no avail, as it turns out – that their matchup against Seattle’s 30th ranked pass defense would pay dividends.

Current Standings:
1. We Play To Win The Game 6-2-0 887.42
2. The Runnamuckers 6-2-0 819.86
3. Waste of Space 5-3-0 719.40
4. Sphinx Domination 4-4-0 811.50
5. Warpaint Pubs 3-5-0 673.36
6. Arrowhead Pride 3-5-0 623.54
7. Team Pat is God 3-5-0 621.20
8. Arrowhead Addicts 2-6-0 724.04

Week 9 Preview:
(1) We Play To Win The Game vs. (6) Arrowhead Pride
(2) The Runnamuckers vs. (5) Warpaint Pubs
(3) Waste of Space vs. (7) Team Pat is God
(4) Sphinx Domination vs. (8) Arrowhead Addicts