In what was arguably the season’s most exciting game, the Thomas Bock Boys clinched the Western Division Championship with a come from behind, 35 – 34 win over the Piana Raze, in a game which was decided on the last play.  Brian had built a 15 point lead after three quarters with his eight players; but, Thomas had Randy Moss and the Pats D left.  Surprisingly enough, it took the entire fourth quarter to decide the final outcome.  Finally, though, in the last seconds, on the last defensive play of the game, the Patriots defense (11 against, 1 DTD) picked off its third interception, vaulting Thomas from 2 down to 1 up. 

Led by running back Ryan Grant’s 10 points, the Raze also got 7 each from QB Matt Schaub and kicker Adam Vinatieri, and 6 each from receivers T.O. and Reggie Wayne.  The Colts D played well in stripping 12 away from the Boys.  Meanwhile, Thomas’ QB Jeff Garcia was injured on the game’s first play and did not figure in the scoring.  So it was up to Old Faithful, Jamal Lewis, to hoist the team’s hopes on his shoulders, and plow to a game high 11 points.  Supported by 9 from his backfield mate, Marion Barber, 9 more from receiver Gregg Jennings, and 8 from Plax Burress, Lewis and Co. were well positioned for a late game comeback.  Then the defense held Randy Moss to a 2 – his lowest output of the season, and the Bockvillains watching on TV made a collective groan.  But, just as the faithful fans at En Fuego Field were starting to cheer the victory, Thomas’ Patriots snatched it away, dashing Brian’s slim hopes of the division crown and a first round playoff bye.  Thomas goes to 9-3 as he wins his second divisional title, the other coming in the 2002 season, and will get week 14 off before playing in Championship Week.  Brian’s Raze (7-5) can finish no higher than 2nd in the West, and will likely host one of the two wild card games to start the playoffs.

back to scoreboard

The Anderson Brewmeisters swept the season series from the Naughty Figs by winning the rematch, 24 – 10 at St. Arnold Stadium.  In the process, the Brewskies claimed the fifth playoff spot.  In an unprecedented move, the team started Derek Anderson at quarterback over eight year starter Peyton Manning, in an attempt to inject some spark into the offense.  Anderson posted a team-high 9 points (and, importantly, the move may have roused Manning out of his funk, as his 12 bench points represented his best game in the last seven weeks).  Good production also came from kicker Phil Dawson (9), RB Brian Westbrook (8), and LaDanian Tomlinson (6), as the Brewmeisters played their most productive game in a month.  The Figs were led by Brandon Marshall, who posted an 8, and got 6 each from quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and RB Willis McGaheee; but, three other starters combined for only 4 points.  Brandon’s Steelers D won the battle of the defenses, stripping 20 away from the Brew Krew, while the Brewmeisters’ Chargers D was taking 18 away from the Figs. 

Moving to 6-6, and locking down the #2 spot in the East, the Brewmeisters will return to the playoffs as a wild card.  Having lost six of the last seven games, the Figs sink into the cellar in the East, and are in danger of “earning” a fourteenth game in the Draft Bowl.

back to scoreboard

In a game high on offense and low on defense, the resurgent Sims Stereco humbled the Eastern Division Jody’s C.W.O.T., 60 – 53 at the Vortex.  Led by quarterback Brett Favre’s 15 points and receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s 14, the scoreboard was full of  Stereco, as all starters contributed at least 5 points, leading to the team’s best overall point production of the year and highest total for the week at 73.  For the Jodys, who apparently were looking down the road to the postseason, RB Frank Gore turned in by far his best performance of the season, with a 17-pointer.  QB Carson Palmer added 13, and TE Antonio Gates added 11.  But Jody lost the game on defense, where the Mighty Titans D was largely a waste of time.  The Titans D managed to take away only a single point from Sims, while Chris’ Jaguars D was stripping 12 away from the C.W.O.T.  Chis has now put together consecutive wins for the first time this season.  Impressively, they have both come against the division winners.  Now at 4-7-1, after having spent the season’s first eleven weeks mired in the the Eastern Division cellar, the Stereco now find themselves in the relatively lofty position of third place, although they do share that spot with the Pimps.  The C.W.O.T. drop to 7-5, and there is not much to say after that, the team having already won the division and securing a first round bye in the playoffs.

back to scoreboard

In the only interdivisional game of the week, Pirkle's Wicked Oil Profiteer$ heaped more dung on the lowly Eastern Division by beating the Pimps 38 – 19 in the Game of the Week.  Defense and Special Teams play ruled the day for the oilmen, as Pirk's Seahawks D stripped 16 points away from the Pimps, and scored a touchdown, and kicker Mason Crosby had one of his best games of the season, with 13.  Tony Romo and Marques Colston each added 8, and Rudi Johnson put up 7 for the Profiteer$.  The Pimps were led by running back Fred Taylor, whose 9 points were his season’s best, but the next highest score was the 6 points posted by tight end Jason Witten, as the rest of the team seemed ready to call it a season.  Russ’ Redskins D did manage to keep things respectable, by taking 11 points away from the Profiteer$, but the Pimps owner surely lamented the loss of newly added kicker Jason Hanson’s 17 points, which were left on the bench.  The Pimps loss leaves them at 4-7-1, tied with the Stereco for third in the Eastern Division; but, unfortunately, out of the playoffs.  With the win, the Profiteer$ move to 6-6 on the season, and qualify for the playoffs, having now won their last three games.  We’ll have to go another week and another game to see whether they or the Hellions claim the final postseason slot.

back to scoreboard

The Irwin Hellions, playing their best game since late September, won for only the second time in the last seven weeks, as they pasted the Abstract Machines, 47 – 23.  The Machines, losing for only the second time in the same period, suffered pretty much a total team meltdown, apparently still in a haze from having clinched a playoff berth a week earlier.  Gone was the big red S from quarterback Tom Brady’s chest, as he managed only a relatively (for him) Clark Kent-like 12 points.  More importantly, the defense deserted Mike’s Machines, as the Ravens laid an egg, and there was no one in the supporting cast who could deliver more than 4 points.  Even that would have been enough to beat the Hellions on several recent Sundays, and with QB Eli Manning matching Mike’s Ravens at zero, it looked like another collapse in store for Chris’ team.  But receiver Chad Johnson had apparently had enough of the Hellions’ losing ways.  Ocho Cinco caught fire with a 14-pointer, his best game since week 2, and kicker Nate Kaeding topped him with 15, also his season best.  And when Chris’ 49’ers D took 14 away from the abstracted ones, it was enough to put the Hellions over the top.  The win changes nothing in the standings, the Hellions (5-7) continuing to hold down the bottom rung on the ladder in the West, while the Machines (7-5) maintain their tie with the Raze; however, with two wins in their last three games, the Hellions do hang onto their hope of the playoffs.

back to scoreboard