Week 9 Recaps
Hellions, Pimps surge ahead
Irwin takes out Thomas on the road while The Pimps escape with a win over Jody, and Anderson runs its win streak to two. All this and more in...

The Week That Was in Fantasy League Football

The Irwin Hellions won for the sixth straight week as they thumped Thomas' Bock Boys 25-7 in their own backyard. Hellion QB Brett Favre outdueled Bock Boy starter Trent Green 9 to (minus)2 in what could be Green's last appearance in the Bock Boy purple and silver. Warrick Dunn and Curtis Martin combined for an overpowering 24 points on the ground to back up Favre. David Boston led all Bock Boy scorers with 8 while Keenan McCardell chipped in another 6. Yet the most explosive battle of the day was on defense, where Thomas' Philly squad went toe-to-toe with Irwin's Buccaneer team and came away with a 24-24 tie. Unfortunately for the Boys, a tie on defense left them well short of a win against the defending champs. The loss, Thomas' second straight, eliminates the Bock Boys from the Western race while dropping them to 4-5. Irwin improves to 8-1, which becomes the best ever start in league history. With four games remaining, the Hellions have a legitimate shot at becoming the second team ever to post 10 regular season victories (Jody in '98 is the first).

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The Pimps rode the back of Shaun Alexander to a narrow but impressive road victory over the resurgent Colossal Waste of Time. Alexander scored a career and game-high 22 points for The Pimps and accounted for one-third of the team's offense. He was assisted in his quest however by quarterback Mark Brunell with 10 points and kicker Jeff Wilkens with 12. Jody tried to keep pace with a run-and-shoot offense, and Joe Horn (11 points) and Martin Gramatica (8 points) made valiant efforts. The C.W.O.T. made up most of their ground on defense, where its reliable Dolphins squad outperformed The Pimps' Packers unit 16-5. Unfortunately for Jody, it wouldn't be enough as the Pimps swept the regular season series for the third consecutive year. The loss also officially ends Jody's quest for a repeat in the East and drops the C.W.O.T. to a discouraging 3-6. The win is the fifth straight for The Pimps, who remains the front-runner to replace Jody as division champs.

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The Anderson Brewmeisters won consecutive games for the first time this season by besting P.W.O.P. in a high-scoring inter-divisional affair. Peyton Manning threw for 10 points despite having his jaw broken, and Duce Staley returned to the forefront with an exceptional 14-point effort. Yet the Profiteer$ matched blow for blow thanks to Jeff Garcia's 17-point outing and Randy Moss's additional 8. This game ultimately was decided on defense, where, for the second consecutive week, P.W.O.P.'s "D" couldn't get the job done. This time around, the re-signed Raiders were schooled by Anderson's Charger team 14-(minus)1. While Anderson has now won two straight, P.W.O.P. has come up on the short end in the last three weeks. As a result, both clubs now sit at 3-6, needing to win three of their final four games to be playoff eligible.

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Marshall Faulk returned to the Abstract Machines' lineup for the first time in a month and sparked the team to a 28-point rout of the spiraling Sims Stereco. Faulk had 16 points in pretty much one half of play, and Marvin Harrison back him up with a superhuman (18 point) effort of his own. The closest Sims could come to those numbers was 12 by both Terrell Owens and Phil Akers, but even that left them well short of the fired-up Machines. Perhaps the worst part for Sims' fans is that for the second straight week, a Stereco quarterback was held to zero points. When the dust finally cleared, the Machines held a formidable 63-38 offensive lead. The Stereco did get a stout 17-point game from its Giants defense, but even that was overshadowed by the Machines' Rams team with 18. This dominating performance lifts the Machines to 5-4 and back into second place in the West. More importantly than that, it moves them into fourth in the postseason seeding. Meanwhile, the loss is the fourth straight for Sims, who drops to 3-6 and tied with Jody and Anderson in the bowels of the East.

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Nothing spells relief like R-A-Z-E as the Naughty Figs snap a two-game drought by besting Piana at En Fuego Field 37-27. Piana actually posted better offensive numbers thanks to Bill Schroeder with 8 and John Carney with 13. Yet the Figs rallied back with the likes of Rich Gannon, who bested Piana's first-time starter Tom Brady 12-1, and Maurice Smith (7 points). They also got a big assist from Piana's New Orleans "D" which had its worst outing of the season and actually coughed up a point to its opponent. Despite all this, the Figs entered Monday night trailing by 8, but their Baltimore defense came through in the clutch with 18 big points to seal the victory. The win keeps the Figs only a game back of The Pimps at 6-3. Piana, now loser of six of its last seven, drops to 3-6.

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