Now it's time to get into the Week 3 games so I'll dive right in.

Houston beat Philadelphia 27-7 in a battle of 2-0 teams. Dale Baber threw for 321 yards and 3 TDs with Randy Savage getting most of the yardage. Savage caught 6 for 206 yards and a TD while 8 other receivers divvied up the rest. Defensively they got Joel Jasso twice twice, getting a pair of INTs and sacks.

Portland broke open a tight game in the 3rd qtr to beat Honolulu 27-14 in a battle of 2-0 teams. The Portland defense had 4 sacks and 3 INTs while Curtis Torres threw 2 of his 3 TDs in the 3rd to take a 10-7 lead to 24-7.

San Antonio beat San Jose 13-6 in a defensive struggle that saw both teams combine for 498 yards. San Jose forced George Warner into 3 INTs while San Antonio got 1 off Myron Dustin with 4 sacks. The game was tied at 6 late in the 4th when the SaberCats got caught up in bad field position, leading to the Gunslingers getting the ball at midfield in the final minute. George Warner then found Daniel Cruz for the game winning 47 yard TD with just 0:18 on the clock.

Orlando beat Michigan 16-7 in a defensive struggle. The Renegades failed to make the playoffs last year but they are already 2-0 against playoff teams this season. Orlando and Michigan both like to run the ball but neither running game was successful as the teams combined for 193 yards on 75 carries. Willie Reddish threw 2 INTs for Michigan while Michael Smith went 13/15, 131 yards and a TD for Orlando.

New Orleans crushed Los Angeles 51-13. The VooDoo amassed 660 total yards, 274 on the ground. Howard Becker led the way with 155 yards and 2 TDs. Through the air, James Wright completed 30/33, 386 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. Nicholas Reyes caught 8 for 152 yards and a TD while Michael Ferrell had 90 yards and 2 TD catches.

I'm going to stop here for now. My stomach just started bothering me so I'm going to lay down for a bit.

OK, took a nap and feel a little better so let's finish.

Shreveport is the final 3-0 team and Frederick Martin accounted for all of the non kicking scoring in a 21-2 win over Baltimore. Martin started off scoring 2 points for Baltimore when he was tackled in the end zone for a safety by Don Gregory. Martin then ran for 3 offensive TDs for his own team among his 30 carries for 89 yards. Steamer QB Michael Applebaum was an efficient 20/25 for 163 yards while the defense held Baltimore to 140 yards.

Washington blazed Florida 62-9. James Ford ran for 212 yards and 3 TDs, with 2 scores coming in the 1st qtr as the Federals got out to a 14-0 lead and never looked back. Michael Erickson completed 21/28, 289 yards, 4 TDs, and 1 INT. Fred Messer caught 4 for 130 yards and a TD while Jacob Hazlett caught 10 for 69 yards and 2 scores. Defensively the Federals made life rough for Nicholas Meis, sacking him 11 times and intercepting 3 passes. Washington uses light weight SS's as DE's and it sure worked today as Barry Eilers had 4 sacks and Steven Watts had 3. I don't mean anything by pointing that out as it's totally fine and legal and he's probably far from the only one doing it. I only noticed this because I clicked on Eilers card so I could see his last name better. On the box score I couldn't tell whether his last name was Ellers or Eilers.

Of all the 10 teams that are 2-1, most are usual playoff contenders and I'll get to their games shortly if I haven't already, but I want to focus on 3 teams tied for the division lead that aren't always contenders. Chicago has been an up and down team since the beginning, never making the playoffs 3 years in a row but also never missing them more than 5 in a row. When they do make the playoffs, they win the division as they have 12 Midwest titles and just 1 wildcard in their history. Detroit was one of the best teams in the league for the first 11 seasons under eyeballl, but soon after he left, the Wheels went flat. Under the ownership of fhunt3, Detroit failed to make the playoffs 22 of the next 25 seasons before continuing that trend last season under AI. Charlotte has struggled forever under UKRAIN's ownership. He ran the team from 1974 to 2008 and made the playoffs just 4 times in 35 seasons. The Hornets first playoff season was their 24th, going 10-6 in 1997 to earn a wildcard. That would be their only 10 win season but they did make the playoffs 4 times in 6 seasons between 1997 and 2002.

Detroit and Charlotte are under new ownership and hope to turn those franchises around while Chicago is hoping for another division title. All three teams are tied for the division lead, Detroit and Chicago tied with each other while Charlotte is tied with Washington.

Chicago got by Tampa Bay 20-17. Tampa Bay started out moving the ball well but settled for a FG and a turnover while the Blitz struggled to move the ball early but took a 7-3 halftime lead after Christopher Davis topped off a 75 yard drive with a 7 yard TD run. They increased the lead to 10-3 with a FG following an INT from the Blitz defense, then Douglas Lee ended a 98 yard TD drive with an 11 yard TD pass to Walter Ballard. Chicago led 17-3 headed to the 4th but Tampa Bay scored 2 TDs to tie the game with just over a minute to go. Lee then drove Chicago into FG range and Samuel Diaz kicked the game winning 54 yard FG as time expired.

Detroit and Cleveland needed OT to settle a back and forth game with the Wheels getting the 19-13 win. Cleveland's Craig Kirk rushed for 113 yards for the game and his 60 yard TD run in the 1st gave the Thunderbolts a 7-0 lead. Curtis Kim tied it for Detroit with a TD pass. Detroit got the next score as well, a FG for a 10-7 lead, kicking off a FG back and forth that saw the game tied at 13 in the 3rd qtr. The only scoring chance for either team in the 4th was a 58 yard FG try by Cleveland at the gun that fell short. The Thunderbolts got the ball to start OT but punted. Detroit only needed a FG to win but they kept their drive going until Anthony Kam walked it off with a 3 yard TD run.

Charlotte beat Denver 13-7 and the box score gives me very little to write about. The teams combined for 440 yards and 4 turnovers, neither QB got to 140 yards and Charlotte's Jerry Touchet ran for 93 yards as the box score "star". Charlotte kicked a pair of first half FGs for a 6-0 lead before Denver scored a TD in the 3rd to take the lead. Charlotte took the lead back with a TD late in the 3rd, then held on in the 4th for the win.

Pittsburgh beat Jacksonville 31-10 for their first win of the season while also handing the Bulls their first loss. Thomas Hampton threw for 290 yards and 2 TDs as the Maulers played turnover free offense. Hampton's first TD pass came on the opening drive, then the Maulers added a FG following a lost Jacksonville fumble. The Bulls would come back to tie the game at 10 before Pittsburgh took a 13-10 lead on a FG at the halftime gun. That momentum carried into the 3rd qtr as Pittsburgh added to their lead with a FG and a TD. The Maulers sealed the win with a TD and 2 point play in the 4th.

Birmingham beat New York 13-6 in an ugly defensive battle. The teams combined for 407 yards and 5 turnovers, with Barry Stingfellow's 3 yard TD run in the 4th qtr the difference in the game. Jamie Orman and Russell Gall threw 2 INTs apiece and I can't find much positive in the box score to write about. Birmingham did get their first win of the season though.

Oklahoma beat Southern California 27-12 to improve to 2-1. Robert North threw for 269 yards and 2 TDs while Gary Kahn ran for 114 and a TD to lead the Oklahoma offense. Michael Hagler caught 7 for 123 yards and a TD. Domenic Winstead is still on the Outlaws and he caught 7 for 42 yards and a TD but for the year he's 4th on the team in receiving yards. Have you ever seen the meme where Wolverine is on the bed, longing over a picture? That's Domenic Winstead looking at a pic of retired QB Raymond Settles.

This meme

Memphis beat Boston 23-17, holding on at the end after nearly blowing a 17-3 lead. The Showboats had the running game working, getting 272 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. George Hoffman led the way with 184 yards and a TD. Memphis led 17-3 in the first half but Boston cut it to 20-9 by halftime. The defenses ruled for the next quarter and a half before Jerry Parker found Kurt Conley for a 66 yard TD pass, with Parker also completing a 2 point pass to pull Boston within 3 at 20-17. Memphis then took almost all of the remaining time off the clock with a 12 play, 72 yard FG drive to seal the victory.

Oakland escaped with a 13-10 win over Arizona. The Invaders moved the ball well, gaining 396 yards but 3 INTs by Domingo Robinson derailed some scoring chances. Arizona had one good drive and added a FG after the first INT for a 10-3 lead in the 2nd qtr. The Wranglers offense couldn't do much after that and Oakland tied it with a TD later in the 2nd. The tie would be broken with a FG in the 4th but Arizona had a chance to tie at the end of regulation but the 52 yard try was wide left and Oakland hangs on.

New Jersey beat Georgia 25-6 in a battle of 0-2 teams. Jesse Pinkman had 175 combined yards, rushing for 99 and catching 3 for 76 and a TD. The Generals defense had an INT that was returned for a TD and 6 sacks, 4 by Nathan Explosion, including one for a safety.

Week 4 obviously hasn't been covered yet and idk if I'll get to it this afternoon. Normally I'm off work during our midweek sim this season, which is great for doing this, however today was a holiday which meant I worked. Some holidays are busier than others for us. Easter is usually dead, idrk because I don't work Sundays but I never hear horror stories. Memorial Day and Labor Day don't move the needle either. Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving, and July 4th are usually crazy busy though.

Wednesday we were busier than normal, much busier and when I woke up today I was not feeling this so I figured I'd do it after work. Bad decision because I feel it even less now. Tomorrow afternoon my screw around window is short, especially with free agency for Quick and the Dead.

Most likely scenario is I do Week 4 and 5 Sunday. I'm off work and not planning on going anywhere. I know I don't owe anyone an explanation but I also didn't want to leave anyone hanging in case anyone was wondering when the heck I was gonna do it.

When I say tomorrow afternoon, I mean later today. It still feels like Thursday to me since I've been up all night.

Apologies as the weekly recaps were delayed due to the league offices being closed for the 4th of July. Just a reminder that these recaps are not for your most recent game, but for the Week 4 games. Due to the backlog I'll try to be brief.

San Antonio got the best of Houston in a battle of 3-0 teams, winning 16-0. Each defense was good at limiting yards and they each had 4 sacks but the Gunslingers were able to create 3 turnovers and get 3 4th down stops. Glenn Graham didn't score but he had a combined 122 yards to lead the offense.

Portland remained undefeated with a 15-3 win over Detroit. Robert Settle ran for 115 yards, Aaron David booted 5 FGs, and the Storm defense allowed just 113 total yards with 5 sacks and 2 INTs.

New Orleans dominated the box score but needed a FG at the end of regulation to escape with the win. The VooDoo had 414 offensive yards to 131 for the Sun, but New Orleans lost the turnover battle 3-1 and allowed a 107 yard kickoff return by Jeremiah Knapp to keep the Sun in the game despite their offensive woes. Nicholas Reyes caught 14 for 125 yards and a TD for New Orleans while Gerald Waldon had a combined 126.

Birmingham beat Shreveport 7-3 to give the Steamer their first loss of the season. Philip Snyder had a 39 yard TD run for the game's only TD, and he finished with 101 on the ground. The Stallions defense didn't force any turnovers and had just 1 sack but they kept Shreveport under 200 total yards and held them off the scoreboard after an early FG.

Florida upset previously unbeaten Orlando 31-22. A week after a miserable game against Washington, Nicholas Meis completed 19/23, 320 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT, and 3 sacks. Don Aguirre (4-136-1) and Thomas Gonzales (5-105-0) had 100 yard games receiving today. Orlando rookie RB Giuseppe Jones ran for 112 yards.

Speaking of 31-22 that's the score Washington beat Jacksonville by. James Ford ran for 132 yards, Michael Erickson threw 2 TD passes and William Flock had a punt return TD to lead the Federals to the win. William Barron threw for 3 long TD passes for the Bulls (95, 77, and 48 yard TDs) but it wasn't enough in the end. Jacksonville's defense forced 3 turnovers and had 4 sacks while Washington's defense forced 2 turnovers and had 9 sacks. Despite all of those defensive stats, each team topped 300 yards.

Honolulu beat San Jose 28-8. The SaberCats outgained the Hawaiians but Honolulu scored 3 TDs thanks to short fields and their defense kept San Jose in check. Victor Russell threw for 204 yards and 3 TDs while James Shick had a combined 142 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Hawaiians offense. Defensively, they allowed San Jose to run for 268 yards, 123 and a TD by Lynn McLaurin but they stymied the passing game. Myron Dustin finished 13/21, 76 yards and an INT.

Tampa bay had a come from behind 15-14 win over Michigan. The Panthers got out to a 14-3 lead thanks to a pair of rushing TDs but their last 4 drives went nowhere. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay's last 4 drives resulted in a TD, 2 FGs and a punt with under a minute to play. This game featured nearly 600 combined yards but saw no 100 yard skill performances.

Memphis doubled the yardage of New Jersey, running for 393 yards and 3 TDs, yet they still needed a pick six in the 4th qtr to send the game to OT. There, George Hoffman finished the only OT drive with an 8 yard walk off TD to give Memphis a 37-31 OT win. Hoffman finished the day with 185 rushing yards and 2 TDs, with 57 yards on 9 receptions for 242 combined yards. Hoffman wasn't even the leading rusher as Randy Schmidt had 187 rushing yards with a 35 yard TD reception to boot. Nothing worth mentioning on the New Jersey side of things.

Oklahoma ran all over Los Angeles 31-3. More specifically it was Gary Kahn who ran all over the Express to the tune of 185 yards and an Al Bundy-esque 4 TDs in a single game. Can I get a Whoa Bundy? The Oklahoma defense forced 2 turnovers and had 3 sacks while allowing just 123 yards.

Baltimore beat Denver 19-10. The Gold started QB Kevin Via today, and at least for this game, they found out why New Jersey cut him loose. Via threw 3 INTs and if it wasn't for Kevin Hillman it would have been a really miserable day. Hillman had 92 combined yards, 46 each on the ground and in the air to lead Denver in both categories. Hillman scored Denver's lone TD on a 106 yard kickoff return. Baltimore only gained 162 offensive yards but all 5 of their scores came on drives that started in Denver territory.

Oakland had 391 offensive yards, 209 on the ground as they beat Cleveland 25-3. The Oakland defense held Cleveland to 79 total yards, getting an INT and 6 sacks, one for a safety. Offensively the Invaders spread it around so nobody had a stat line that popped off the page.

Pittsburgh beat Charlotte 21-3 as Thomas Hampton completed 17/21, 189 yards and 2 TDs and Kenneth Allen ran for 115. Felix Vaughn was just short of 100 yards, catching 5 for 99 yards and both of Hampton's TD tosses. Pittsburgh cashed in both red zone opportunities into TDs while Charlotte only had 3 points from their 2 red zone trips.

Arizona blitzed Chicago 33-3. The Wranglers ran for 248 yards and 2 TDs among 4 ball carriers who had between 43 and 97 yards. QB John Adams wasn't great but he wasn't sacked and didn't throw an INT either. Chicago struggled offensively as they managed just 150 total yards, with the Wranglers defense getting 2 sacks and forcing 5 turnovers.

New York beat Georgia 14-9, overcoming 3 lost fumbles to do so. Sleepy Sandmann wasn't one of the fumblers though, and he led the Stars with 103 rushing yards and a TD. Georgia kicker Joseph Davis was just 1/3 on FGs. One of New York's lost fumbles came at the 2 minute warning but Georgia couldn't move the ball as the Stars hold on to win.

Philadelphia beat Boston 34-23 despite QB Joel Jasso throwing 4 INTs. Jasso was also sacked 3 times but he also threw for 276 yards and 3 TDs. Jasso played like the recent ownership situation in the Bell front office. I have no idea how Lemon decorated his office in Philadelphia but lemons have now been replaced with sharks as Shark1720 takes over for the departed Lemon. Gary Simmons led the way for Philadelphia on the field, running for 91 yards and catching 3 for 94 and a TD.

Now on to Week 5, which will likely be broken into 2 parts since the sim time is less than an hour away. These recaps are for our most recent games, which ran Friday night.

I didn't go through the unbeaten/winless teams for Week 4 but after 5 games we are down to 3 of each. Portland, San Antonio, and New Orleans are your 5-0 teams while Cleveland, Georgia, and Boston all search for their first win. We also only have 3 teams with 4 wins, meaning we have a logjam of teams 3-2 or 2-3. We also had our first tie of the season.

Portland had the power of 3 working for them as they crush Charlotte 36-0. The Storm scored 3 TDs with 3 XPs, 3 FGs, and 3 safeties as their defense had 4 sacks, 2 INTs, and 74 total yards allowed. Curtis Torres completed 32/42, 364 yards and 3 TDs and Marvin Leggett (9-133-2) was his favorite receiver. Robert Settles had a combined 151 yards, 76 on the ground and 75 more on 7 receptions.

San Antonio improves to 5-0 with a 20-2 win over Philadelphia. The Bell may or may not have had a game plan in place as I'm not sure exactly when Lemon left. Looking at the box score it's a good possibility there was none but San Antonio is one of the best teams in the league and can make any offense look bad. Regardless the win counts the same as George Warner put on a show, completing 33/50, 396 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, and 5 sacks. He got big games from receivers Daniel Cruz (11-145-1) and Eric Rodriguez (7-124). Defensively they sacked Joel Jasso 5 times and held him to a 16/50 passing day with 136 yards and 2 INTs.

New Orleans beat Honolulu 35-13 to stay undefeated despite sloppy special teams play. Minor issue considering the offense put up 503 yards while the defense allowed 123 and they still won the game by 22 points. Kicker James Jones missed a FG and the kick coverage unit allowed a 105 yard return TD to Michael Sinclair. QB James Wright completed 35/47, 338 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Nicholas Reyes was 7/11 today, always open as he caught 16 for 182 yards and a TD. The VooDoo running game had 165 yards and 3 TDs, split mostly between Gerald Waldon (91 yards, 2 TDs) and Howard Becker (73 and 1).

Washington is one of three teams with 4-1 records but they are the only one leading their division. The Federals beat Orlando 28-6 thanks in large part to Norman Thomas. QB Michael Erickson had a solid game, completing 13/19, 223 yards and 2 TDs but the Renegades defense had no answer for Thomas. He caught 2 passes for 35 yards and ran 25 times for 234 yards and 2 TDs for a combined 269 yards. Washington set the tone for the game early, scoring a TD on their first 3 drives of the game after spotting Orlando 3 points on their opening drive.

Memphis beat Houston 23-10 in a battle of 3-1 teams, scoring 14 unanswered points in the 4th qtr after the Gamblers took a 10-9 lead in the 3rd. Memphis got those 14 the hard way, with a pair of FGs, a safety and a TD with a failed 2 point attempt. Snake Roberts caught 5 for 131 yards as the box score hero but Houston turned the ball over 3 times while the defense forced none. Houston also had no sacks while Memphis had 2, including the aforementioned safety. Antonio Washington kicked 5 FGs.

Oklahoma joined Memphis as non division leading 4-1 teams with a 30-3 win over Boston. Gary Kahn had another big game although he skipped the Al Bundy impersonation today, running for 220 scoreless yards. His running mate Raymond Russo chipped in with 100 yards and a TD while QB Robert North threw for 3 TDs.

I'm going to stop here for now since the midweek sim spins in 6-7 minutes and I don't want to lose my progress.

Back to the game recaps...

There is a 3 way logjam atop the Southeast between Orlando, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville. Tampa Bay improves to 3-2 with a less than thrilling 6-0 victory over Baltimore. The two teams combined for 313 total yards and each team missed a FG. Baltimore only tried one and that's all I have to say about this game...sorry. On the plus side this was the Bandits 2nd straight win.

Jacksonville beat Florida 38-16 to improve to 3-2 on the season. The Bulls put up numbers everywhere as William Barron completed 21/33, 368 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, and 7 sacks taken. Four Bulls ball carriers combined for 160 yards and a TD. Francisco Burke (8-135-2) and Larry Stafford (3-115-2) each caught a pair of TDs and topped 100 yards.

I talked about Orlando already as they lost to the 4-1 Washington Federals.

Detroit beat Arizona 20-13 to take first place in the Midwest. One week after Arizona's defense forced a bunch of turnovers they force none, while the offense had 3 today, all INTs by John Adams. Detroit's Matthew Reynolds had a combined 120 yards, 87 on the ground and his 3rd qtr TD run broke a 10-10 tie.

New York beat New Jersey 27-19 to improve to 3-2 and a share of first in the East. New York got out to an early 14-3 lead and used that momentum to keep New Jersey at arm's length on the scoreboard all game. Apollo Creed was the box score hero, catching 11 for 120 yards and a TD, but as usual, the Generals can't put a complete game together. QB Eric Hansen threw 2 INTs while the defense allowed 196 rushing yards and 3 Jamie Orman TD passes. Sleepy Sandmann led the New York rushing attack with 97 yards.

Oakland and Pittsburgh played to a 14-14 tie that has me scratching my head. There were no big stat lines so I'll get right to it. The game was tied at 14 and Pittsburgh had the ball for the 4th OT drive, their second. The drive started just outside their goal line and Thomas Hampton connected on a 53 yard gain on first down. The drive stalled out with a 4th and 13 from the Oakland 28 yard line, and a FG would have been from 45 yards out. So on 4th down, guess who comes trotting on the field...the freaking punter. Are you kidding me? Anyway the kick pinned Oakland at their own 8, essentially guaranteeing a tie at that point.

You all are free to run your teams however you see fit and perhaps I'm not seeing an obvious reason for not trying a 45 yard FG, or perhaps it's some kind of game engine glitch but I don't get it.

Speaking of things I just don't get is Smirt's defending champion San Jose SaberCats starting out 0-4. One thing nobody is going to get is an 0-5 SaberCats because San Jose finally got off the schneid with a 44-20 win over Shreveport. They improve to 1-4 and are only 2 games out of first with lots of football left. Myron Dustin had his best game of the season, completing 52/62, 528 yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT and 9 sacks taken. Lynn McLaurin caught 15 for 216 yards and 2 TDs while Perry Nelson caught 12 for 121 and a TD. The SaberCats defense shut down the Shreveport running game but Michael Applebaum completed 28/35 for 231 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs.

Michigan was all over Cleveland, winning 48-0. Willie Reddish completed 28/35, 548 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT and 1 sack taken. The Panthers running game had 193 yards and a TD and the defense pitched a shutout. The story of the game though, is Michigan WR William Barrett. Barrett caught 15 passes for 355 yards and 4 TDs. That's a long way from the record 694 yards David Austin of Memphis put up in 1986 but it is the 2nd highest single game total this century. In 2008, San Jose WR Lee Ramos had 443 receiving yards, good for 6th best all time. Barrett's 355 yards is 27th most all time, with the rest of the top 27 all happening between 1974 and 1996.

Don't look now but the Birmingham Stallions have now won 3 in a row after an 0-2 start, beating Georgia 32-14. Philip Snyder ran for 75 yards and 2 TDs, Russell Gall threw for 243 yards, 155 to Mohammed Manno (11 catches), and Jeffrey Long made 6 of 7 FG tries to lead the Stallions. Birmingham broke open a 3-3 game with 29 unanswered points.

Southern California beat Los Angeles 20-6. John Berrios threw for 2 TDs and 1 INT for the Sun while the L.A. QBs combined to throw 4 INTs. Donald Davis threw 3 and had to leave the game with a foot injury and backup Timothy Gutierrez threw 1 on his only pass. The game was tied 3-3 at halftime before Berrios threw both of his scores in the 3rd to break open a close game.

Denver beat Chicago 20-14 thanks to 3 rushing TDs, 2 by Kevin Hillman. Denver got the good Kevin Via at QB today, or is it the not bad? Via finished 29/43, 311 yards, 1 INT and 1 sack taken. Even when he's good, he's sorta not. Anyone in XFL has no doubt read CJ's thoughts on some QBs having a hidden clutch attribute, and if you haven't he has data to back his theory. If there is a clutch factor, it stands to reason there is a choke factor as well and based on my experience with Via, he has it. His player card attributes are too good to **** as bad as he has. His accuracy, look off defense and field of vision are all 100/100. Arm strength 97, pass release 80, even scramble ability is 98. He's not stupid either, 95 intelligence. So why does he ****?

Wow, ok. Sorry about that. Kevin Hillman had a combined 155 yards, getting 86 and 2 TDs on the ground. Mark Reyes chipped in 58 rushing yards and a score. Defensively the Gold intercepted Douglas Lee 4 times and sacked him twice. Lee did throw a pair of TD passes in the 2nd qtr after Denver took an early 14-0 lead. The game stayed tied at 14 until Hillman's 2nd TD, which came at 4:55 left on the clock.

Here is where the comedy of errors begins as Allan Hawk missed the XP, leaving the score 20-14. Chicago punted, then while trying to protect a slim lead, Denver fumbles it away. Content to play hot potato, Douglas Lee promptly threw an interception. Denver drove into FG range but Hawk missed his 3rd kick of the game, 2 makeable FGs and the aforementioned XP. Next play after the missed FG Lee throws INT #4, allowing Denver to run all but 10 seconds on the clock and win the game.

Week 6 has been finished for a day but I drug my feet too long to do the game recaps. We had several big blowout shutouts, 5 total shutouts this week. 5 additional teams scored, but less than 10 points. I'll get to all of that after work in the morning.

Now I'd like to take a look at the division races.

Pacific Honolulu got off to a fast start while the champion San Jose SaberCats did not. Now 6 weeks in, the Hawaiians have come back to the pack at 3-3, with San Jose and Southern California one game behind at 2-4. Los Angeles sits in 4th at 1-5.

West Portland is off to a fantastic start at 6-0 with just 27 points allowed. It's going to be difficult for any team not in the Southwest to get a wildcard but Oakland is hanging around at 3-2-1 while Denver is 3-3. Arizona is 1-5 in 4th place.

Southwest The Southwest is 16-2 outside of division play and all 4 teams would currently make the playoffs. San Antonio is 6-0, having allowed a league low 24 points. Memphis is right behind them at 5-1 with Oklahoma and Houston both 4-2. This division will be fun to watch for those of us not actually in this division.

Midwest Michigan is the best team on paper in this division but they are just 3-3, tied with Detroit for the lead. The Wheels are rebuilding and to be 3-3 already is a good sign. Chicago is right behind them at 2-4 while Cleveland is struggling at 0-6.

Southeast: Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are tied at the top with 4-2 records. The Bulls have won 2 in a row, the Bandits 3 in a row. Orlando started 3-0 but now they are going the other way, as a 3 game losing streak has them in 3rd at 3-3. Florida is lurking at 2-4.

South The teams are in the usual, recent order with New Orleans the third undefeated 6-0 team in the league. Birmingham started 0-2 but 4 straight wins have them in 2nd place at 4-2. Shreveport matched Orlando as 3-0 teams turned into 3rd place 3-3 teams on a 3 game losing streak. Georgia is struggling at 0-6.

Atlantic Washington is 5-1 and they have the highest scoring offense in the league. Pittsburgh is in 2nd with a 3-2-1 record while Charlotte and Baltimore are tied at 2-4 and both are on losing streaks.

East Lemon is gone and he clearly built his team/game plan his way. Philadelphia players have struggled to adapt to new leadership and a 2 game losing streak has them looking up at New York. The (NY) Stars lead the East at 4-2 thanks to a 3 game winning streak. New Jersey has been inconsistent to put it kindly and they sit at 2-4 while Boston has struggled to 0-6.

Good luck tonight everyone. Game 6 recaps should come in the morning with Game 7 sometime tomorrow night/Friday afternoon.

I had the same reaction, Greg. Mine might have been louder and with more curses though. I checked afterwards and found that my end of game FG max yardage was set to 45 or something like that. I don't think I did that, but maybe? Regardless, my kicker is garbage and probably would have missed anyway. :)

I figured it was something like that, a bad setting or a game engine glitch.