Week 2
Hellions annihilate Bock Boys
59-point margin of victory largest in league history, and the Banshees bask in the glory of a Monday night comeback. All this and more in...

The Week That Was in Fantasy League Football

This offseason, Irwin ditched the tag name Intellectuals for a more aggressive, more threatening identity. Through the first two games of 2000, the Irwin Hellions are living up to - and beyond - their new namesake.

Irwin laid waste to the West's expansion franchise, who themselves were coming off lopsided victory in Week 1. Edgerrin James had his standard 13 point performance and Chris Carter brought home another 8, but the day belonged to receiver Jimmy Smith. Smith blew up for 21 points, the most ever by a receiver. Topping off the week's effort was the commanding Buccaneer defense which stole a whopping 28 points away from the overmatched Bock Boys.

While everything went right for Thomas in Week 1, the Bock Boys were ill-prepared to take on the Hellions in Week 2. Only kicker Steve Christie contributed more than 5 offensive points (10), and the Eagle defense posted a goose egg, leaving the offense at Irwin's mercy. In a showing of unmatched dominance, the Hellions have beaten their first two opponenets by a combined 96 points.

Reminiscent of last season's storied two-point game between the Stereco and Pimps, this was a thriller that came down to who had the home field advantage. Jody surged to an early ten-point behind the hands of Joe Horn and leg of Martin Gramatica (12 points apiece). Monday night, however, belonged to Banshee Wayne Chrebet who delivered a heroic ten-point effort to knot the game. With the two defenses cancelling each other out with strong 13-point performances, it came down to home field. Brandon, in the franchise's first ever home game, claimed the franchise's first ever win in dramatic fashion. The C.W.O.T. were left stunned, having failed to close out the game. Moreover, Jody is now the only team in the East without a divisional victory.

It was hyped as a grudge match between former Brewmeister Kurt Warner and his young successor Peyton Manning. It was a matchup that delivered, with Manning outgunning Warner 13-10. The rest of the Brewskies, however, failed in their supporting roles while being outplayed 39-24 by Warner's supporting Stereco cast. Furthermore, Sims' Chiefs defense overpowered Anderson's Titan squad 13-11 to secure the Stereco's first win of the season. The win also marks the fourth consecutive victory for the Stereco over the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. Anderson will have yet another chance to break that streak in Week 13 when Sims comes to town to close out the regular season.

With Jody and Anderson taking a loss, The Pimps joined Irwin as the only unbeaten teams left in the league with a 17-point win over the Raze. Last year, these two teams put up a combined ten points in an ugly affair; they cranked out nine times the offense this time around. Pimp Steve Beurlein called the shots this week in place of Week 1 savior Cade McKnown and torched the Raze for 14 points. Placekicker Jeff Wilkens posted another 15 as The Pimps set a franchise record for most points in a game. In fact, only once in the previous three years had The Pimps ever broken the forty-point barrier; they've now done so twice in two games. The only silver lining for Piana is that new quarterback Brian Griese posted 14 points, or 23 more than Jon Kitna last week.

The Abstract Machines served notice to the league that they are very much contenders in 2000. Four members of the Machines' offense posted double-digit points, including a record 21 for placekicker Mike Hollis. Despite having three players post eight points, The Players were manhandled for the second consecutive game. Steve McNair was schooled by youngster Shaun King 12 to (minus)2, and newly acquired New England defense offered an uninspired seven-point effort as the Machines romped all over their division rival. In a staggering statistic, The Players have dropped their last three meetings with the Machines by a combined score of 132-28. Ouch.