Double Down

Two weeks baby. And what a wild ride it's been. What's up is down and what's down is up. The Deuce is loose and the Rams are 0-2. Last year's cellar dwellers are making their case for contention and some old stars seem to be fading fast. The moment of truth is arriving and everyone still has a chance. This is gonna be one crazy season, i can smell it already. So here we go, a two week roundup:

Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses Division

Flaming Shrapnel Whipping out to a fiery start, Flaming is ready to be a legit contender. With a leader like QB Aaron Brooks (42 pts in two weeks), the Shrapnel are deep at every position. RBs Eddie George and Anthony Thomas have not disappointed yet and with Tiki Barber and Garrison Heart on deck, this team can make it through any injuries. Terrell Owens has been unexplosive so far but Eric Moulds and Rod Gardner are showing signs that they will be superstars this year. The Shrapenl eeked out a four point victory this week and won a huge game over Skool in Week1 so the season is off to a rip roaring beginning.

Skool Out to prove that last season was no fluke, Skool has come back with a vengeance this year. With a fresh new look, Skool is no longer the Miracle Team of yesteryear. Deuce McAllister is a superstar (37pts) and Peerless Price and Donte Stallworth both look like they will become solid contributors. Even the pre-season worries about Stephen Davis have evaporated, as he had a huge WK1 showing. The QB situation is incredibly good, with backup Jay Fiedler actually outperforming starter Daunte Culpepper (who had 34 last week). All of this and the return of receivers Kevin Johnson and Tony Gonzalez from contract squabbles means that Skool is ready to play this year. Their only loss so far was a 11-pointer to a surging Shrapnel. They hung 145 this week, setting a high for the young season. In two games, Skool has already doubled the number of century games they had all of last year.

Green Team The Green Dream is off to a decent start this year. Two century games in as many weeks and a big one point victory over Chunky in WK1. Last week was a huge blowout, but that had more to do with Skool's explosiveness, as opposed to Green's ineffectiveness. In fact, the Green Team is looking okay. QB Brett Favre is his usual 20+ point self and his WRs (Hines Ward, Marty Booker, Darrell Jackson, Troy Brown) are deep and talented. There are some big holes at the RB position however. Travis Henry had a huge WK1 followed by a tiny WK2. Duce Staley has been okay (13 per week) but he isn't really the long term answer. William Green has totaled four points so far. Kevan Barlow doesn't get on the field yet. If T Henry or Duce fails, the Green Team could conceivably run-and-shoot until a RB emerges. The Green Team is looking much better than last year however and there is some depth at all the positions. How good that backfield is however, is still up in the air.

Battle Angels The Angels are looking lost and confused. Even with a veteran laden roster, this team is starting the season off on a bad foot. Leading the league so far in least points scored, the Angels still managed to pull out a five point victory in WK1 against the Phreaks. The only keeper holding up his end is QB Steve McNair. Randy Moss has been good but not yet spectacular. The Randy Ratio isn't producing any great numbers so far. However, the re-emergence of Joey Galloway (13avg) is a boon to the WR corps. Tim Brown and Muhsin Muhammed have yet to find their step but the WRs are in general, very good. It's the backfield where the potential problems are. Curtis Martin and the Bus have been doing for so long that maybe they are grinding down. How else to explain a total of 12 points from the two of them combined, for the season. Backup James Stewart hasn't helped much, with his six points hiding on the stat sheet. The kicker, Jeff Wilkins has 13 points on the season. It's not good when your starting backfield is scoring less than you scrawny footie guy. But things can turn around for this team awfully quick. Four good WRs, two usually dependable backs and a good QB will take a team far. The defending divisional champs are slow to come out the gate but it's how you finish that matters.

Philadelphia Phreaks This was supposed to be the year the Phreaks make a huge run at respectability. They were re-loaded, re-vamped and re-tooled. The early season trade for a top flight WR (Isaac Bruce) has so far not panned out. WRs Keyshawn Johnson and Chris Chambers haven't lived up to their hype yet. Michael Pittman and Jamal Lewis are both having trouble establishing their potential. The only good things so far about this team are all the Philly players. But oh, what a great bunch they are. James Thrash (29 in two), the Eagles D (21), David Akers (18) and of course, super Donovan (58). Without these four, the Phreaks would be downright downtrodden. McNabb gave Ante Up a big scare on Monday Night but just fell a bit short. The trade for hometown hero Thrash has proven to be quite exceptional, even if the other half of that trade (C Portis) is still incubating on the sidelines. The Phreaks are a pretty good team on paper, but their two best players are far and away, the two QBs (Bledsoe has 56 in two), and only one of them can play. It's time for I Bruce, M Pittman, K Johnnson, C Chambers and J Lewis to step it up. If they continue their lackadaisical ways, the Phreaks could be in for another long season.

Inscrutable Drama Kings Division

Tiiite End Jammers The Jammers aren't playing around. They began the season by blowing out the Birds by 45. Then they squeaked by rival Chunky by a mere three points last week. And now they stand alone at the top. The Jammers have been doing it all without the superior statistics of QB Kurt Warner too. The Rams are off to a weird start but the Jammers have cruised right through it. When Warner is only the fifth highest scorer on your team (after Amani Toomer!!!), that probably means he's hurt or your team is doing fabolous. In this case, the Jammers are fabolous. Priest Holmes had a breakout WK1 (40 pts). Ricky Williams is putting up 25 per. The aforementioned A Toomer is acting like a star receiver, 15 per. Right now, the only problems aside from Warner finding his groove is Terry Glenn and the other starting WR spot. Glenn is showing good signs of being a very solid WR but easy Ed McCaffrey has been beat out by part timer A Randle El the past two weeks. This isn't really a bad thing i suppose. The Jammers are powered by their dominant RBs and until someone can stop the run game, the Jammers will run right through people and then bomb away with Warner when he gets back on track.

Ante Up Ante is dropping chips and daring other teams to raise the pot. Even with a first week blowout by Buffy in WK1, this team looks nothing like the cellar dweller of a year ago. Edgerrin James is back. As is Fred Taylor. That alone makes Ante Up twice as good. QB Jeff Garcia isn't quite his usual fine self yet but it'll come. Even backup RB Warrick Dunn has been posting impressive numbers. And if Thomas Jones is for real, Ante has four quality RBs. The picture on the receiving end of the ball is less clear however. With a stable of number two WRs (D Mason, Q Ismail, D Alexander, Q Morgan), the only NFL prime target is L Coles, who has been awful so far. Ismail and Mason look like they will be solid receivers but that it will be hard to juggle the lineup week in and week out, without a premier pass catcher. However, Ante Up is already doing much better than last year, this year, they have a backfield and until Fred Taylor inevitably goes down, that will be enough to keep them in every game.

Buffy That's why they play the game! Buffy, looking like the strongest team in the universe, is at 0.500. They haven't been there in a long long time. After a piss poor showing against the Birds, Buffy is rip roaring mad. How does David Boston, Torry Holt, Rod Smith and Keenan McCardell combine for only 25 points? The greatest fantasy show on Earth came off a huge WK1 only to crash in WK2. Even the effervescent Marshall Faulk has been subpar, putting up only 20s and not 30s. His backup, Charlie Garner has gone 32 and 18 in a non-recorded cause. Rich Gannon is still a solid 20+ a week QB but these WRs are too good to be throwing up single digits. The Rams attack is off and that prevents Faulk and Holt from hitting their stride. It also seems like Rod Smith is losing some catches to a more well-rounded Denver offense. Could it be? Buffy is weak? No, we doubt it. Next week, Buffy will crush someone again and one loss doesn't make a season.

Dirty Birdeez Oh the lows and oh the highs. After a huge blowout loss in WK1, the Birdies dished a little pain of their own in WK2 by pushing defending world champion Buffy all around the field and wrecking their good chances at an undefeated season. But it's not all fun and games at the Bird nest. The supposedly deep WR corp is in shambles. Johnnie Morton has been pathetic. Plaxico Burress had 1 and -1 the first two weeks out. It took Jerry Rice a billion and one receptions to get 14 for the past week. Only Marvin Harrison is holding it down at 17 per. The stunning backfield has been slow to come around, as Ahman has been banged up and Corey is without air support once again. The one huge bright spot? It looks like Michael Vick is a player. Even as WK1 starter Kordell slides down the charts, Vicks stock rises with each dazzling dash from the pocket. Now, if Ahman can avoid injury and Morton and Plaxico can do something, the Birds have a chance at pulling more upsets in a tightly contested division.

Chunky Monkeys E*** Shiue. Meet Jerry Jones. How do you do? If anyone can understand early season disappointment, it's the owners of the Cowboys and the Chunkies. The Monkeys haven't been bad, they've just been unlucky. One point loss in WK1? Hard to believe. Three point loss in WK2? Oh and two baby. The best individual score for the Monkeys? The Charger D in WK2 with 28. That means young studs L Tomlinson and S Alexander haven't exploded yet. Both have been more than serviceable but the Monkeys counted on so much more. Luckily the Monkeys are looking awful deep at WR. Curtis Conway is the surprise WR star early in the season (13, 25) and Jimmy Smith and Joe Horn have both gone over double digits every game out. Good backups are there in RB A Smith, WRs A Smith and K Dyson. Consistent QB Peyton Manning leads the troops and this team looks like a world beater. But they are sitting at the cellar. Very strange. Who's bad side did the Monkeys get on? Who knows. Either way, the Monkeys are out for blood next week and need a big win to erase doubts from two close losses.