The league average fell from 120.89 to 109.69, five of six games were decided by fewer than 30 points, and the team that scored the fewest points in Week 1 turned around and posted the second most in Week 2. Two weeks in, this league has produced three unbeaten teams, three winless ones, and one owner who has employed four different quarterbacks since last Tuesday.
By CHET McNULTY
Senior Basement League Insider
BASEMENT LEAGUE HQ: Scoring came back to earth. The storylines did not.
WEEK 2 SCOREBOARD
League average 109.69
FELLOWSHIP
153.16
HOPE IS COMING
90.40
Davante Adams 39.5, Olave 22.6, Butker 16.0
BRIDGE FOUR
129.58
HOUSE OF WENKE
100.28
CeeDee Lamb 35.3, Patriots D/ST 20.0, Aubrey 16.0
BRUISERS
127.82
SCALABRINE
114.16
Josh Allen 40.8, Kincaid 22.5, McBride 18.1
KRAEMERICA
121.14
HAHA
101.38
Smith-Njigba 42.5, Jake Ferguson 20.3
ZADDY
106.32
OLD SCHOOL
92.18
Amon-Ra 35.2, Kittle 18.0, McMillan 15.1
WOLFHOUNDS
94.62
CKWADE
85.30
Jonathan Taylor 29.2, Walker 23.8
STANDINGS · THROUGH WEEK 2
Sorted by record, then points
#TeamRecPoints
1
FELLOWSHIP
2-0
302.98
2
WOLFHOUNDS
2-0
286.28
3
KRAEMERICA
2-0
241.00
4
SCALABRINE
1-1
251.66
5
BRUISERS
1-1
244.88
6
CKWADE
1-1
229.80
7
HOPE IS COMING
1-1
215.26
8
BRIDGE FOUR
1-1
201.84
9
ZADDY
1-1
199.04
10
OLD SCHOOL
0-2
214.60
11
HOUSE OF WENKE
0-2
195.08
12
HAHA
0-2
184.64
THE FELLOWSHIP PROBLEM
153.16 after 149.82. Two weeks, two league-leading scores, 302.98 points total, which is 16 clear of anyone else. Davante Adams went for 39.5 against the defending champion. Chris Olave added 22.6. Harrison Butker kicked 16. And Patrick Mahomes, the round-eleven luxury item, put up 28.98 from the bench, meaning he has now scored 50.6 points this season for a team that has never once needed him.
Eight days before the opener I wrote that this was a team getting by on December luck and the right opponent in the right week. Two games is a small sample. It is also two games of the most points in the league, and I am not in the business of pretending I did not say a thing.
"They have scored more points than anyone and their best quarterback has not played a snap."
THE WOLFHOUNDS WON WITH THEIR WORST LINEUP
Read this slowly. The Commish's starters scored 94.62. His bench scored 108.98. Jared Goff posted 29.78 and Travis Kelce 25.1 while Caleb Williams, the hero of Week 1, managed 7.72 and Tucker Kraft gave him 3.5 at tight end. He won the game anyway, because Ckwade's lineup collapsed to 85.3.
2-0 with 286.28 points is a genuinely strong start. But last week the Wolfhounds left Kelce on the bench during a 191-point explosion, and this week the bench beat the starters outright. Two weeks running the wrong guys have been in the lineup. That is a correctable problem, and if it gets corrected this is the best team in the league.
THE OLD SCHOOL QUARTERBACK CAROUSEL
The transaction log tells a story no box score can. On Tuesday the team was renamed. On Wednesday morning Tank Bigsby was dropped for C.J. Stroud. Friday at 5:44 PM, Stroud was cut for Geno Smith. Friday at 9:02 PM, barely three hours later, Geno Smith was cut for Malik Willis. Willis started Sunday and scored 12.48.
This is a franchise that opened the season with Kyler Murray posting negative 0.38 and has been sprinting through the position ever since. 0-2 with 214.60 points is the unluckiest record in the league, more points than three teams sitting above him, but the quarterback spot has been a four-alarm fire for two weeks and the smoke is not clearing.
BRIDGE FOUR ANSWERS
Last week I gave them the full treatment: lowest score in the league, a kicker taken in round eight, a dark horse pick I said I wanted a mulligan on. This week they posted 129.58, second most in the league, and beat the running back armada by 29. CeeDee Lamb went for 35.3. The Patriots defense put up 20. And Brandon Aubrey, the round-eight kicker, kicked 16.0 points, which is more than five starting quarterbacks scored.
Saquon Barkley scored 3.0 and they won comfortably. That is the version of this team the numbers kept promising last season, and it is worth remembering it arrived one week after the worst score anyone has posted all year.
THE ARMADA IS STILL IN PORT
House of Wenke started D'Andre Swift this week, having learned last week's lesson, and Swift scored 12.9. Achane gave him 12.3, Hampton 17.5. That is 42.7 from the three backs, the exact same total the three starters produced in Week 1. Matthew Stafford was actually the high man at 26.98 and Stefon Diggs chipped in 21.7, which is not the shape anyone drew up when four running backs went in the first 38 picks.
He also cut Keenan Allen this week, so the receiving corps is now down to Diggs, Pittman, Sutton and Ridley. 0-2, and the trade calls he was supposed to be receiving have not started coming.
ODDS AND ENDS
Josh Allen scored 40.82, the highest individual total of the season, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba went for 42.5 the same afternoon. Both of their owners won.
Puka Nacua started for the Bruisers and scored 0.0. They won by 13.66 anyway, which is the difference between a roster with a ceiling and a roster without one.
Hope is Coming has now been outscored by the league average in back to back weeks and sits 1-1. I predicted this team misses the playoffs, and I would like the record to show the prediction is aging better than it was seven days ago.
Scalabrine cut Dalton Schultz for Pat Freiermuth, the second tight end move since the Bowers injury. Dak 29.76 and Chase 26.5 were not enough. That roster has two elite pieces and a lot of hoping.
POWER RANKINGS · WEEK 2
1
FellowshipBack to back weeks as the league's top scorer, 302.98 points in two games, and Mahomes has now posted 21.7 and 29.0 without ever entering the lineup. I called them overrated. I am revising.
2-0
2
WolfhoundsScored 94.62 and won anyway, which is its own kind of skill. The bench outscored the starters 108.98 to 94.62. Fix the lineup and this is comfortably the best team in the league.
2-0
3
KraemericaThe quietest 2-0 imaginable. Smith-Njigba's 42.5 did the heavy lifting and nobody is talking about them. That is historically when this owner is most dangerous.
2-0
4
BruisersJosh Allen went for 40.8 and Puka Nacua posted a zero in the same lineup. Most points allowed in the league still, but the ceiling is obvious.
1-1
5
ScalabrineDak 29.8 and Chase 26.5 and still lost. Cut Dalton Schultz for Pat Freiermuth, which tells you the Bowers hole is now a full-time project.
1-1
6
CkwadeFrom 144.5 to 85.3 in one week. Jaxson Dart scored 0.8, Malik Nabers 1.1, and A.J. Brown is on IR. The turn picks were beautiful in September. October is asking questions.
1-1
7
Bridge FourThe bounce-back was real: 72.26 to 129.58, best swing in the league. CeeDee went for 35.3 and Brandon Aubrey, my round-eight punching bag, kicked 16.0. I will allow it.
1-1
8
Hope is Coming90.4 and a 63-point loss. Marvin Harrison zero, Kyle Pitts 2.5, Brock Purdy scoring 28.5 from the bench. The champ has now been outscored by the league average two straight weeks.
1-1
9
ZaddyFirst win, and Amon-Ra's 35.2 led it. Still churning the roster weekly, three moves in five days, but 106.32 is a step in the right direction.
1-1
10
Old School0-2 with 214.60 points, more than three teams above him in the standings. The quarterback carousel spun through Bigsby, Stroud, Geno Smith and Malik Willis inside four days. That is not panic, that is performance art.
0-2
11
House of WenkeBetter week, still winless. Started Swift this time and he gave 12.9. The four backs have now combined for 42.7 and 42.7 in consecutive weeks. The armada is stuck in port.
0-2
12
HaHa101.38 and another loss. Added Tyreek Hill off the wire, which is the kind of swing this owner takes. Lowest point total in the league through two weeks.
0-2
Three teams unbeaten, three winless, and the gap between first and last in total points is 118. Week 3 gets here Sunday. The desk will be at the press table, as always, revising.
Chet McNulty has covered the Basement League since 2012. He has attended every draft, witnessed all fourteen championships, and has never once been allowed to vote on a trade veto.