Peyton Manning returned to the starting lineup Sunday, and played his best game of the season in leading the Anderson Brewmeisters to a 46 – 19 win over the Piana Raze in the first of two Wild Card Week games.  Manning, on the bench for the last two games in favor of Derek Anderson, threw for 249 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, in route to a game-high 17 points.  The Brewmeisters played to their strengths – passing and rushing - from the start, as time and again running backs LaDanian Tomlinson and Brian Westbrook pounded the Raze defense.  And when the Raze stacked the line to stop the run, the two backs took Manning passes into the endzone - Tomlinson from 7 yards out, and Westbrook on an 18 yarder.  Tomlinson (14 pts) finished with 146 yards rushing and a score, while Westbrook (9 pts) added 99 yards on the ground. 

The Raze tried to match Anderson’s strategy of ball control by running 40 rushing plays of their own, as Ryan Grant carried 29 times for 156 yards and a score, and Maurice Jones-Drew got another eleven carries, but for only 24 yards, although he did pick up another 21 receiving yards.  Grant led all Raze players with 11 points, equaling his season best, but Jones-Drew managed only 2, in one of his worst performances of the season.  More tellingly, quarterback Vince Young and All Pro wide receiver Terrell Owens imploded on the postseason stage and played their worst games of the season.  Young, in a continuation of the Raze’ season-long quarterbacking problems, threw for just 121 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions in a -2 point meltdown.  Owens, whose five double-digit games were instrumental in getting the team to the playoffs, had three catches for a mere 21 yards and 1 point.  Raze receivers were held well below their average, at 12 total points, with surprise starter Jerricho Cotchery leading the wideouts with 6 points, and Reggie Wayne posting a modest (for him) 5.  The Brewmeisters’ Chargers defense, in addition to holding the Raze receivers in check and intercepting Young twice, also recorded 2 sacks and held the Raze to 240 yards total offense in a workmanlike 13 points against performance.  Outplayed on defense as well as offense, the Raze’ Giants D took back only 9, including 2 on a Westbrook fumble.  That, and the continued absence of meaningful wide receiving contribution, were about the only areas to find fault with in an otherwise productive game for the Brewskies.  The Brew Krew seem to have ratcheted their game up a notch since losing to the Raze in Week 11, as they have won three in a row since then, scoring 62 or more total points in each game.

Having won in Wild Card Week, the Brewmeisters move on to challenge the Western Division Champion Thomas Bock Boys next weekend in a game that (with deference to the younger Anderson) could be called “The Geezer Bowl.” Brian and his Raze team are toast, and can use the final playoff weeks to scout for a suitable quarterback replacement for the three lame (injured and otherwise) signal callers who currently wear the Blue and Red.

back to scoreboard

The Blue and Grey came away blue and black, as the Wicked Oil Profiteer$ brought all their sledge-hammers out and mauled the Abstract Machines, 65 – 32. In the second of two Wild Card Week games, Paul’s Profiteer$ were dominant on both sides of the ball.  Anchoring the winners was their Seahawks defense, which once again rose to the occasion with a five pic, five sack performance that took 24 points away from the Machines.  Adding on a DTD and a safety, the Seahaks D was responsible for 29 total points, which was their second best performance of the season.  When the Profiteer$ offense had the ball, it was obvious they had also come to play, as no less than three players posted double-digit scores. Led by kicker Shayne Graham’s four field goals and 14 points (his second-best game of the year), the Oilmen got 13 points from quarterback Tony Romo and 11 from receiver Marquez Colston. Lone running back Rudi Johnson added 8, and tight end Tony Gonzalez posted 7 to round out the significant scoring for the victors.

The Machines were led, as they have been all season, by the stellar play of quarterback Tom Brady.  Brady missed a 400 yard passing game by a single yard, and hit for four scores in a 20 point performance. One of those scoring strikes went to Bernard Berrian, who caught seven passes for 91 yards and 8 points, and another went to Bobby Engram, who hauled in 4 catches for 55 yards and 6 points. Kicker Jeff Reed added 7 points, and running back Thomas Jones had 6 points on 119 total yards, but was held out of the endzone. Other than the disappointing play of Mike’s Ravens defense, which scored a DTD but took no points away from the Profiteer$, the Machines actually played pretty well, as their seven offensive starters accounted for 53 points.  With any kind of defensive effort, that wins games more often than not; but, against the gusher of P.W.O.P. points Sunday and Monday, the AMs were just overmatched.  Mike has surely seen enough of the Green and Black of Oiltown, having lost three times to the Profiteer$, and by ever increasing margins. The Machines now have the offseason to ponder ways to plug the many holes in their offense and defense.  P.W.O.P., now on a five game winning streak, move on to tackle the Colossal Waste of Time in next weekend’s Championship round.

back to scoreboard

The league’s two bottom feeders hooked up in Draft Bowl XI, and the Sims Stereco quickly got last weekend’s bad taste out of their mouths, by dumping on the Pimps to the tune of 48 – 11.  One week after posting their lowest total of the season, the Stereco rediscovered both their offense and defense, and let it all fly, ringing-up a total only one point shy of their season best.  Drew Brees got the start at quarterback, and led the offense with a 328 yard, three touchdown performance for 16 points. He was joined in double digits by running back Joe Addai, whose 81 total yards included three touchdowns and 13 points. Kicker Robbie Gould added 9, and receiver Wes Welker contributed 7 to an offensive attack which scored 54 total points. On the other side of the ball, the Stereco’s Jaguar defense was busy stripping 18 away from a Pimps offense which only posted 29 to begin with. Sims shut down the Pimps rushing game, holding Shaun Alexander to 2 points on 38 yards, and making rookie rushing sensation Adrian Peterson a total non-factor, holding him to a mere three yards on 14.  When the Pimps went to the air, the Stereco put the clamps on that, too.  Quarterback John Kitna (5 points) and wide receivers Joey Galloway (4) and Donte Stallworth (0) were all kept out of the endzone. About the only effective option was tight end Jason Witten, who led the feathered ones with 8 points. Russ’ Redskins D managed to take 9 away from the victors, but against such an offensive onslaught, it was about as effective as cheap toilet paper.

The win salvages a measure of pride for a team which one nine games last year and came within a victory of going to the 2006 Super Bowl, but which couldn’t overcome an 0-4 start to this season.  More importantly, it gives Chris the rights to the first pick in the 2008 draft.  The Pimps closed out their 2007 campaign with a fifth straight loss, the eighth in the team’s final nine games.  They will have the next eight months to try and figure out how to add punch to a team which ranked last in the league in scoring this season.

back to scoreboard