Jordan's 2009 Power Rankings - Week 2

In week 2, two teams stepped out of the pack and staked a claim to the top spot in our Power Rankings. The Rocky Brook Oilers got 246 yards from scrimmage and 2 touchdowns from Frank Gore, and another 18 points from the amazing Drew Brees to stomp the Georgia Satellites 85-59. The Midwest Marauders, who lost a close one to Rocky Brook week 1, plowed the Fight-in camels by 50. Leading the way were two guys we mentioned in this space last week – Chris Johnson (31 points) and Andrew Johnson (19 points).

On the down side, it is rather surprising to see the Dangerous Minds and Georgia Satellites lying prone at 0-2. Mike and John are not used to this – it will be interesting to see how these two masters respond to this early-season adversity.

This weeks Rankings…

1. Rocky Brook – They’re 2-0, and coming off a spectacular week. Early season analysis has them sitting second in Game Points (153) and third in Total Points (210), but that Week 1 win over the Marauders gives them the tiebreak advantage.
2. Midwest Marauders – They are first in Game Points (156), and first in Total Points (224). But, they are 1-1, so this is as high as we can place them this week. They have Johnson and Johnson leading the way. Tomlinson looks like a second round swing and miss, but Fred Jackson has been brilliant. Hugh has a championship look this year.
3. Northboro – Two solid weeks have the Phoenix at 2-0, with contributions coming from all over the roster. Last week, Greg Jennings whiffed against Cincinnati, but Chad OchoCinquo has a solid week and Phillip Rivers has been terrific. Northboro left 50 points on the bench, playing Michael Bush over Tim Hightower and Cedrick Benson (141 yards). This week they get a test against the undefeated Spies.
4. Northern Spies – Statistically, the Spies come out 6th in our analysis, but they get a boost for showing up in week 3 undefeated. The Spies are thoroughly enjoying Adrian Petersen’s spectacular performances, but they are having trouble sorting out their RB2 and RB3 slots. Calvin Johnson has been excellent. This week, they face a very solid Northboro club.
5. Fight-in Camels – Tony is riding the wave of a great week 1, but this is a team with serious questions. Brian Westbrook and Tom Brady are both under examination by Fantasy Owners. Could these two players be in for down years? Brady looked lost against a ferocious New York Jets blitz scheme last week, and Westbrook’s injuries seem to be serious enough that he’s having trouble playing through them. With McNabb on the shelf, and unlikely to be completely healthy for weeks, Westbrook is bound to be the focus of opposing defenses through the good weather weeks.
6. Dangerous Minds – They are 0-2, and looking to sort out a mess. Moss, McNabb and Braylon Edwards have been pretty quiet so far. Percy Harvin has scored both weeks, so he may provide some help off the bench. McNabb and Matt Hasselback, who Mike picked up on waivers last week, are both banged up. The record for blowing up quarterbacks is held by a Northboro club that had six starting QBs go down with injuries in the first six weeks. I finished that sad season with Doug Flutie at the helm. Cutler had a decent game against Pittsburgh last week, so the solution may already be here.
7. Georgia Satellites – Look no further than John’s first round draft pick to pinpoint the difficulties in Georgia. Matt Forte has been a bust so far, but his struggles are largely due to his playing Pittsburgh, who is a wall, and Green Bay, who stacked the box all afternoon to stop him. Beyond Tony Gonzalez, the receiving corps is a mess. With Matt Ryan, Gonzalez, and Roddy White headed to New England this week, I’ve got a cold beer on ice for Mr. Nelson – kickoff’s at 1:00 pm Sunday, big guy.
8. Garvey’s Gangsters – The Gangsters have been reduced to jay walking and parking violations so far. They are last in Game Points, next to last in Total Points, and they are 0-2. They’ll try to get off the matt against a Dangerous Minds club that needs a win.