First week of Interdivision play

This is the first week of inter division play, and also the first week NFL teams have bye weeks.  Be sure to check your lineups to account for Byes!

Week 3 Match-ups

	Rynos (2-0) vs Hooligans (2-0)
	***Matchup of the week***  The battle of undefeated teams happens in Week 3 where the top team in the NFL takes on the league's top scoring team.  The Rynos will be without one of their starting Running Backs and their starting QB, and have a number of tough matchups.  They may have to rely on Jason Elam to lead them as the Broncos take on struggling San Diego.  The Hooligans are off to a fast start and lead the league in points, but will be without their superstar Curtis Martin this week, and will have to start the RB tandem of Ron Dayne and Jerome Bettis. However, they may not need the RB points as they can rely on Terrell Owens to have a huge day in Detroit.
	Chargers (1-1) vs Assassins (2-0)
	The Chargers took a huge blow (and not in the good way) when they lost Duce McCalister for half the season.  Fortunately for the Chargers, they may be able to use last week's acquisition Dominic Rhodes if the Edge sits out this week.  They'll have a tough match-up as 1/3 of their team (Ten) goes up against the stiff Jacksonville defense.  The Assassins are having a great start, and now have one of the best and deepest wide receiving corps after the trade for Hines Ward.  Their team is likely going to be one of the top teams this year.
	Marauders (0-2) vs Hitmen (1-1)
	The winless Marauders are watching the news carefully on Edgerin James who may be out this week.  On the bright side, Ahman Green is going up against the Indianapolis Defense, so will probably have a big game, and Jake Plummer faces the weak San Diego Chargers.  The Hitmen also have a great set of match-ups as the trio of Hasslebeck, Robinson, & the Seattle Defense go up against the 49ers
	JYDs (2-0) vs. StiffArms (1-1)
	The JYDs have put together the 2nd highest scoring team behind Marshall Faulk and Priest Holms, but with both of those players nicked up last weekend, they may have to move Larry Johnson into the starting lineup.  If the players are healthy, it looks like it's going to be a good week as they have match-ups against St. Louis, Houston and New Orleans.   The StiffArms got their first win of the season last week with a strong performance,  and have some interesting match-ups as Daunte Culpepper tries to do his dance when Chicago comes to visit and the Denver defense tries to stop San Diego.  Should be a high scoring week for both teams.
	Ketchup Hotdog (0-2) vs SmackDownSister (1-1)
	The two teams with the longest names in the league face off.  The names are so long that I had to use a smaller font for the title bar.  KH has Corey Dillon on a bye week, so will have to start Tiki Barber this week.  That might not be so bad, since Barber is actually outscoring any other RB on KH's roster.  SmackDownSister had some bad luck last week as Donnovan McNabb threw a long touchdown to Terrell Owens at the end of the game.  Had the pass gone to any other player, it would have meant a SDS win.  Unfortunately for SDS, it was a loss, but this looks to be a good week for them as they are missing only one player, and have Donnovan & Westbrook playing against the Detroit Lions while Domanick Davis goes against the porous Kansas City Defense.
	Quiet Storm (0-2) vs. PhatBacks (0-2)
	One of these two teams will start the season 0-3 while the other will notch their first win of the season.  Quiet Storm will have a tough time breaking his streak, since his top players (Pennington, Moss and Foster/Davis) are all on a bye week and his second best player (SF RB Kevan Barlow) is up against the stiff Seattle Defense.  The PhatBacks will look to take advantage of that as they add their new star RB (who had more yardage and TDs than the entire PhatBack Roster in week 1) Quentin Griffin who will go up against the SD Defense.  Edge to PhatBacks here.

Transactions, Week 3

• The first trade of the season is announced as the Assassins send Quentin Griffin and Peerless Price to the PhatBacks in exchange for Hines Ward and Reggie Wayne

• The Marauders say good-bye to "Mr. Extra Point" John Kasay and add the current "Most successful field goals in a row" Phil Dawson for $1

• The Marauders add Rashard Lee from the Dallas Cowboys (for $1) and drops Eric Parker.  Quote from the coach:  "Thanks for the lovely performance in the one week you made my lineup.  The fumble on the punt return and the 7 yards receiving you put up were a real boon to my team."

• SmackDownSister parts ways with Kyle Boller and adds Robert Ferguson for $1  Quote from the coach:  "I have no doubts that Kyle will turn into a superb NFL quarterback.  Unfortunately I don't have the time to wait for hell to freeze over."

• The StiffArms move Kellen Winslow to the IR and add Corey Bradford for $1.   Quote from the coach:  "Winslow sure did earn his $1 salary this year.  Too bad the Browns have to pay him in real dollars, and more than $1."

• The Rynos drop Travis Taylor and add Rich Gannon for $4.  Quote from the coach:  "Travis Taylor was playing?"

• The Hitmen move Julius Jones to IR and drop Corell Buckhalter.  They then add Eric Johnson for $1.. Quote from the coach "If you're a rookie and picked by the Hitmen, you better make sure your life insurance is paid up"

• The Phatbacks make the following moves:

  • Drop Antwain Smith and add Aaron Stecker for $4

  • Drop the St. Louis Defense and add the Atlanta Defense for $2

  Quote from the coach "I thought St. Louis would use more than 5 guys on defense."

• The Chargers move Duce McCalister to IR and add Ki-Jana Carter.  Quote from the coach "That's the last business trip I'm going on until after the football season!"

• The JYDs Drop Joe Jurivicus and Kerry Collins and replace them with Philidelphia TE L.J. Smith and KC WR Johnny Morton (both at $1 for 1 year)

• SmackDownSister drops Tony Hollings and adds Tyrone Calico

• In a questionable move, the Marauders drop Tyrone Wheatley and add Michael Pittman

• The Assassins drop the comatose sleeper Josh McCown and add Sebastian Janikowski

• The Assassins drop the Green Bay Defense and add the Washington Defense.

• The Assassins quickly drop the Washington Defense and add the New York Giants Defense.  Quote from the coach:  "We didn't like the attitude of the Washington Players.  However, if anyone from the Giants fails to show up at least 4 hours early for the game, we'll fine them!"

• The Hooligans drop Ron Dayne and add Justin Griffin.  Quote from the coach:  "Dayne was just too fat, and that other guy called Griffen does so well."

• The Quiet Storm add veteran Vinny Testeverde.  Quote from the coach "We needed a veteran to come in and cover for Pennington's Bye and Johnson's ineffectiveness."

Polls

Week 3 Results (Final Results)

	Rynos 69 Hooligans 42		Assassins 89 Chargers 38		Hitmen 69 Marauders 63
The Rynos remain undefeated by downing the previously high-scoring Hooligans in convincing fashion.  Shaun Alexander was once again the star for the Rynos with three touchdowns and close to 75 yards.  The Hooligans had a mixed performance with three players in double digits (including Owens who scored and had over 100 yards) but four players scoring less than 2 points.		The Assassins have started rolling, and are pushing to take over the top scoring team.  Jamal Lewis lead their team with over 225 yards and a touchdown.  They also made a fantastic decision to add the NY Giants defense that totaled 14 fantasy points.  The Chargers had an under-whelming fantasy day, but Chris Brown continues to shine for them with over 130 yards and another score.		The Hitmen notch their second straight victory by defeating the Marauders thanks to their Seattle Defense.  What was supposed to be a bye-week fill-in had turned in two double-digit performances, including this shutout with 3 sacks and 4 takeaways from the lowly 49ers.  The Marauders are reeling with the loss of their two top receivers to start the year, and have not had a receiver break 70 yards in a game for the season.  Rod Gardiner had a breakout game with over 150 yards and 2 TDs.
	StiffArms 84 JYDs 64		Ketchup Hotdog 103 SmackDownSister 46		PhatBacks 72 Quiet Storm 52
The StiffArms dominated this game with fantastic performances by Daunte Culpepper who threw for over 350 yards and had 3 total touchdowns to lead the team, and rookie Roy Williams who caught 2 TDs and had over 130 yards receiving.  The JYDs left two empty roster spots, but it wouldn't have helped as they only put up about 8 points.  Kicker John Carney came one point short of the record for points by a kicker with 5 field goals and one PAT		Ketchup Hotdog sets a new record for points in a week in 2004, mainly due to Javon Walker's 3 touchdown and close to 200 yard performance.  Unfortunately his fumble cost him the record for most FP by a WR in one week.  Marc Bulger also had an impressive day with over 350 yards and three total TDs (one a 2-pt conversion).  SmackDownSister had a bad bad week losing three running-backs to injury in the one day.  Donnovan McNabb continues to be his star with over 350 yards and 3 total touchdowns.		The PhatBacks had some good news and bad news.  The good news is that they won, notching their first of the year.  The bad news is that it looks like the acquisition of Quintine Griffin may not be all that good in the long run (or until Bell gets healthy enough to run the ball).  His team was lead by Peyton Manning who had almost 400 passing yards and 5 TDs.  The Quiet Storm had a quiet weekend, but made a valiant effort on Monday night as their four players scored 22 points.  But it was not enough to overcome the 44 point deficit they had.