Week 4 Preview


Konnichiwa and welcome to the return of my weekly column - it's a little hard to stay connected while fighting off samurai and entering sumo tournaments, but with a little luck, I should be back in action. Thusfar the 2008 campaign has brough about some surprises - we've seen the closest matchup in league history (CheektoWojo's 0.15-pt win over Los Petates Mexicanos, Week 1), a season-ending injury to the top QB drafted (Red Hots' Tom Brady), the lowest single week score in league history (50.96 by Karate Xplosion, Week 3), and the second-highest scoring team in the league (C-Men) is 0-3.

Week 4 brings about the second divisional matchup week of the season for AldenLeague, and also marks the beginning of bye-week season in the NFL. Everything is still up for grabs - the difference between best and worst teams at this point is close enough that anything can still happen. Let's take a look at the matchups.

GAME OF THE WEEK - Boys of Summer (3-0) vs. L.A. Ninjas (2-1)
The Westwood Division is as tight as they come - the L.A. Ninjas and Syn City each trail 3-0 Boys of Summer by a single game, while the 0-3 C-Men are the second-highest scoring team in AldenLeague. This week's Hartman Brother Bowl - the first meeting of Mike and Justin as divisional rivals - will provide the Westwood frontrunner - for the moment, at least. Key performers to watch are, for the Ninjas, breakout QB star Jay Cutler, who travels to Kansas City to take on a Chiefs' defense averaging a 4th-best 153 passing yards per game, and for the Boys of Summer, RB Willie Parker taking on the 5th-best rush defense of the Baltimore Ravens. The Boys of Summer are hurt most by bye-week troubles in this matchhup - Week 3's starting QB tandem of Jon Kitna and Matt Hasselbeck are both not playing this week, along with WR Calvin Johnson and RB Rudi Johnson. If L.A. Ninjas QBs Tony Romo and Cutler can continue to air i tout this season, the Boys of Summer may be scrambling to keep pace while missing some key players.

HONORABLE MENTION - CheektoWojo (3-0) vs. BountyHunters (2-1)
Key CheektoWojo free agent pickup WR J.L. Higgins (a kick returner, of course) powered the Sandridge Division leaders to perfection through three games, and a 14-point lead in the overall points race. The BountyHunters suffered a tough Week 3 loss at the hands of The Skyns, during which NYJ-QB Brett Favre was kept on the bench for a final offensive series in a lopsided loss to San Diego, which killed any possibility of a dramatic, last-minute effort to make up a 9-point fantasy deficit. While CheektoWojo does not face any relevant bye week problems, the BountyHunters will have to make do without starters WR Reggie Wayne and RB Kevin Smith, not to mention BOTH defenses on their roster, indicating some poor Draft Day planning.

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