Jordan's 2009 Power Rankings - Week 3

Pity the fool who tries to piece together cogent and insightful analysis of the 2009 Nelson League. Last week, Rocky Brook rose to the top of heap on the strength of a great week 2 performance from Frank Gore. In week 3, Gore got two carries – one for 4 yards and one from his teammates to the locker room to treat a leg injury. The rest of the Oilers went to the showers in spirit – they scored 34 points and got slammed by the Camels.

Meanwhile, third seed Northboro managed to leave 60 points on the bench while losing to the undefeated Spies, and the bottom-seeded Garvey Gangsters had a great weekend, thumping the luckless Dangerous Minds.

So, the last are first and the first are last, as St. Luke reminds us, and we get to stir the early-season pot while heading into the first bye week. This week’s ranking…

1. Fight-in Camels – They were first in these rankings two weeks ago, took a one week hiatus, then leapt back on top with a dominant win over Tom. Tony sticks with what he knows – he even picked up former Eagle Correll Bucklhaulter on waivers last week. But it was MoJo Drew’s 24 points that delivered the winning right cross for Tony last week. Also notable was the 64 point performance by the bench – the Camels now lead the league in total points (322) through the first three weeks.
2. Midwest Marauders – Statistically, they are dead even with Tony. They lead the league in Game Points with 202, and also first in Relative Won/Lost Percentage at .619. (Relative Won-Lost is calculated as if each team played every other team in the league every week. So, if you score more than every other club in a given week, you go 7-0. If you score the second most points, you go 6-1, and so on. So far, the Marauders are a nifty 13-8 on the year.)
3. Northern Spies – The Denver Broncos of the Nelson. So far, their opponent have scored 37, 49, and 33 points. No apologies for this are expected from the Spies front office, who went 0-5 to start last year. They head to Georgia a perfect 3-0 on the year.
4. Rocky Brook – Gore is out for the next month, and Stephen Jackson has yet to find pay dirt for the Oilers. Drew Brees is leading the league in scoring (52), and Vincent Jackson is quickly turning into an elite wide receiver. With Elam on the bye, Tom may need to pick up a kicker this week.
5. Northboro – It all fell apart when Arizona laid an egg against a ferocious Indianapolis pass rush. I had that game completely wrong on every level, and it cost me big. Also expensive were two touchdown passes that grazed the finger tips of Chad OchoCinquo, and Phillip Rivers’ inability to throw a touchdown pass. (He did run for one.) Northboro is healthy so far, but they have five players on the bye, including DeAngelo Williams.
6. Garvey’s Gangsters – They won big last week and are starting to pull things together after a slow start. Peyton Manning and Willis McGahee have been spectacular so far. This week, they play a hot Camels squad that is playing without their Eagles.
7. Dangerous Minds – This club is waaaaay too good to be here, but they’re next to last in the league in total points – that does not bode well heading into the bye weeks. This week, they are playing without Michael Turner (bye) and Felix Jones (PCL strain). They try to get off the snide against explosive Rocky Brook.
8. Georgia Satellites– It would be difficult to imagine a worse start. They are last in Game Points, last in Total Points, and last in Relative Won/Lost Percentage (5-16, .238). This week, they play the league’s only undefeated team, but they have some juicy matchups with Forte against the Detroit and Ray Rice against New England.