Newsletter: Week 6

Once again I'm failing with inspiration. Well, perhaps an hour less of inspiration. I have no introduction other than the commissioner's feelings on this season so far.

Last Week

After a lot of down-to-the-wire matchups with really tight scoring, week five certainly let us down. The league's three best teams all won. And won big. For the first time this season, the standings don't change.

Branden's quadruple-Colt strategy fails miserably for the second time this season, and from the looks of things, the last time this season. Sadly, the 4 Colts scored 31 of Branden's 42 points.  Had the rest of his team matched that, he would've won. But they didn't, and Dave's consistent scorers steamroll their way to 61 points and their third win of the season. At least Branden nabbed this week's POW honors.

There's nothing at all interesting about the match between Chris and Randy. Chris wins, to put it lightly, 60-31.

Bruce nabs his second high score of the year, remaining undefeated, but at least Beau gave him a mild threat. Gates scores on Monday night, bringing Beau within six points at halftime. But Kaeding proceeded to bang home three field goals in the second half to make the score a lot less close. 73-56 was the score.

Useless Info

~Randy had no players score in double digits. Bruce had five players score in double digits.

~The last time a team had no players score in double digits was during the playoffs last season.  Ken, with the bye, only managed twenty points.

~Getting five players in double digits happens all the time. The last time a team had six players in double digits?  We gotta go all the way back to Week 12, 2002, when believe it or not, Randy did it. The six players? Tom Brady. Jerome Bettis.  Amani Toomer.  Hines Ward. Jerry Porter. Raven Defense. Randy still didn't get high score that week.

The Trade^_TM

We'll revisit the trade tracker in a couple of weeks. But this week we gotta talk about the biggest inter-trade team in SFFL history. Two teams, both struggling to get out of the cellar, decide to cut bait with their drafts and their pocketbooks and go for broke. Branden and Beau swap four players a piece in desperation for anything that might provide enough fuel for a playoff surge.

Average Points Scored
Branden Gets...	Avg. Pts	Beau Gets...	Avg. Pts
QB Eli Manning	11.25	QB Peyton Manning	7.8
RB Priest Holmes	7.75	RB Brian Westbrook	8.8
WR Reggie Wayne	3.75	WR Marvin Harrison	5.4
WR Hines Ward	8.5	WR Santana Moss	7.0
Total	31.25	Total	29

On paper this looks like a fair trade for both teams. Let's take a look at some other key factors.

Injury Risk
Branden Gets...	Risk	Beau Gets...	Risk
QB Eli Manning	Iron	QB Peyton Manning	Iron
RB Priest Holmes	Prone	RB Brian Westbrook	Normal
WR Reggie Wayne	Iron	WR Marvin Harrison	Iron
WR Hines Ward	Iron	WR Santana Moss	Normal

Holmes, Westbrook, and Moss are the only players above to miss any game in the past three years due to injury.  Holmes has been injured a lot. Eight games in 2004. Two games in 2002. Seven games in 1999.  The good news for Branden is that Holmes has never been injured in consecutive years.

Hines Ward has been struggling with a hamstring injury. Preist Holmes has been taken out of two games for brief periods before coming back in. And Westbrook has to cope with McNabb's injuries.

Strength of Schedule (Regular Season)
Branden Gets...	SOS	Beau Gets...	SOS
QB Eli Manning	Normal	QB Peyton Manning	Easy
RB Priest Holmes	Normal	RB Brian Westbrook	Hard
WR Reggie Wayne	Easy	WR Marvin Harrison	Easy
WR Hines Ward	Hard	WR Santana Moss	Normal

Let's look at the two teams each player will face during our playoffs.

Playoff Opponents
Branden Gets...	Opp	Beau Gets...	Opp
QB Eli Manning	K.C., WAS	QB Peyton Manning	SD, SEA
RB Priest Holmes	NYG, S.D.	RB Brian Westbrook	STL, ARZ
WR Reggie Wayne	SD, SEA	WR Marvin Harrison	SD, SEA
WR Hines Ward	MIN, CLE	WR Santana Moss	DAL, NYG

Oddly, enough, the two players who have the toughest regular season schedules, Ward and Westbrook, have two creampuffs in the playoffs.

We'll take a look at this trade later in the season, especially if either Branden or Beau make a playoff run. If we don't, be thankful for our hefty contributions to the kitty.

Last season, Randy finished with only four players from his original roster.  Branden's already there after five weeks.

This Week

Branden (1-4) vs. Beau (1-4)
Chris (3-1-1) vs. Randy (2-3)
Bruce (3-0-2) vs. Dave (3-1-1)

After The Trade^_TM, Beau and Branden get to face off against one another. If Branden loses, making the playoffs will be an uphill climb.  If Beau loses, it'll be near impossible with Branden having the tiebreaker edge.

Meanwhile, Chris and Randy face off for the second week in a row. Unfortunately for Randy, he still has the same players.

The matchup of the week is Bruce vs. Dave. Bruce has a tough go to remain undefeated, while Dave can potentially take over first place with a victory.

BYES: Arizona, Green Bay, Philadelphia, San Francisco

Key Players Out
Beau	Neil Rackers, Brian Westbrook
Branden	None
Chris	Larry Fitzgerald, Eagles D
Randy	Terrell Owens
Bruce	Donovan McNabb, Ahman Green
Dave	Anquan Boldin

Of course, this list doesn't include Dave's Infirmary or any other injured players.

Beau isn't really hurt by the loss of Rackers, as a temp kicker Josh Brown is facing the lowly Texans, who give up an average of two field goals per game.  And Beau's strong depth at running back can make up for Westbrook's absence.

Chris is hurt severely by Fitzgerald's absence, who is his most dominant receiver. With Andre Johnson injured, Chris only has Jimmie Smith who is a consistent threat. Perfect week for Randy to play Chris.

Of course, Randy is missing Terrell Owens, who has been one of his only regular scorers, if not for huge totals. On second thought, Chris shouldn't have to worry too much.

Bruce has the advantage over Dave this week.  Bruce has another stud QB in Palmer, so losing McNabb is no big deal. And Ahman Green is probably no better, perhaps worse, than Ricky Williams at this point so no big loss there. Meanwhile, one of Dave's few healthy players, Boldin, will be out leaving Dave scrapping for a team. Still, he's got Bulger and LT, so it should still be close.