Defying the naysayers and the cockamamie scoring projections of multiple mainstream fantasy football sites, The J2XPerience showed why true sports knowledge and trusting your fantasy instincts are king by putting on a clinic to clinch a dominant week one 170.22-128.66 victory over THE Chicago Bears.

Combining for a league-best, single-game opening week total of nearly 300 points, The J2XPerience and THE Chicago Bears are managed by arguably the two most prominent sports minds in the MDN Fantasy Football League, MDN lead sports writer James Jackson and MDN sports editor Sean Williams.

Jackson led The J2XPerience to a 41.56-point win over Williams’ squad, the largest margin of victory in week one of league play. As well, spotlighting a common scenario that should come as no surprise to veterans of the fantasy football world, The J2XPerience disregarded the recommendations of so-called “fantasy experts” in favor of their own evaluation of fantasy match-ups and more reality-based probabilities.

Racking up the second-highest score of the week was Rainbow’s Rad Team, who overcame a 21-point deficit heading into Monday night’s game to clinch a 142.92-133.68 win over a stout Mr. Seal your Girl squad.

Riding the real-life Buffalo Bills duo of quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs to an early lead, Mr. Seal your Girl’s advantage would be stymied in the home stretch by Rainbow’s Rad Team’s fantasy duo of Broncos stars Javonte Williams and Courtland Sutton.

Also mounting a Monday night comeback courtesy of Broncos Country was FoodsLibrarys, who mustered just enough firepower out of a stellar receiving night by Denver wideout Jerry Jeudy and a sufficient Broncos defense to claim a 130.70-126.22 victory over LundZilla. The matchup’s 4.48-point margin was the closest in the league this week.

Despite the loss, LundZilla’s 47-combined points from newly-acquired Eagles receiver A.J. Brown and Bengals running back Joe Mixon provides ample optimism heading into week two.

Similarly anchored by a wide receiver-running back duo in the form of Michael Pittman Jr. and D’Andre Swift, Light the Lamp handily outplayed and out-schemed Employee of the Year en route to a 130.48-97.12 shellacking.

A bright spot in the loss for Employee of the Year was Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who led the fantasy team with 22.22 points in spite of his questionable real-life play against Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Dwelling in the scoring cellar in week one was Cole’s Champion Team, serving primarily as a champion of abysmal starting lineup choices in a 125.30-84.26 beating by the Fightin’ Insurrectionists.

Rams triple-crown receiver Cooper Kupp paced the Fightin’ Insurrectionists with 31.8 points in the win, while the opening game for Cole’s Champion Team can be summed up simply in the fact that the Buffalo Bills defense ended the week as his highest scorer with 17 points.

Prognosticating the winners of the upcoming week, The J2XPerience will continue their hot start with a win over Fightin’ Insurrectionists, Employee of the Year bounces back in Packers-like style to defeat Mr. Seal your Girl, THE Chicago Bears pull off a nail-biter against LundZilla, Rainbow’s Rad Team steals their second win of the season over FoodsLibrarys, and Light the Lamp blitzkriegs Cole’s Champion Team in dominant fashion.

As part of our weekly fantasy installment, we will be running two prop bets each week. Those interested can submit selections for the prop bets via email.

A winner will be randomly chosen each week and receive a $50 gift card from one of our four amazing sponsors: Simonson Station, Don Bessette Hyundai, Rainbow Photo Labs, and Lamplighter Lounge.

This week’s prop bets: 1) Which fantasy team will suffer the worst loss? 2) Which fantasy quarterback will finish the week with the most points?

Submissions for the prop bets can be emailed to Bob Patchen at bpatchen@minotdailynews.com