Tiiite End Jammers (9-0)Lei’s team is undefeated, leading CTDB with a per week average of 136.2 points, and they are facing the softest schedule so far — opponents only score 82.1 points against them. Oh yeah, Jammers have eclipsed 160+ points once and 170+ twice. Their closest call was a 99.8 - 95.5 WK2 matchup versus Fat Jubas, but since then it’s been smooth sailing. Are we looking at the future champs? It's been a loooong time since this franchise was relevant, perhaps stretching all the way back to their 2003 championship. We're excited to see what they can do, over a decade later.
They have two top five RBs in DeMarco Murray and LeVeon Bell, plus the top three WRs in Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, and Jeremy Maclin. (Has that ever happened before? Top three position players all on the same team?!) Mike Wallace, Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, and Percey Harvin can barely get off the bench. And oh yeah, despite the loss of Robert Griffin early on, Russell Wilson has stepped in more than admirably. This could be the most dominant CTDB team in awhile, and Jammers aren’t only the strongest contenders around, they could challenge for an undefeated season with only four weeks left to go.
LA Buffy (7-2)
In most seasons, Roger’s 7-2 record would be enough to have him leading Inscrutable Drama Kings. Still, it’s been a great bounce back season after going 4-9 last year. He’s got the second highest scoring team in the league at 108.0 points, is riding a six game win streak, and Buffy's WK12 matchup with Lei could be all that stands between the rest of CTDB and Jammer’s undefeated season. Roger is on fire recently, having put up 156.9 and 121.5 points the past two weeks. Great time to get hot!
It hasn’t been easy either, as GM Roger has to juggle his lineups quite frequently. Yes, Matt Forte has been a rock, but Arian Foster is on-and-off injured, AJ Green has been plagued by missed games, and of course there was the loss of Victor Cruz. Not to mention the lost season from Wes Welker. The likes of Reggie Wayne, Matt Asiata, Brandon LaFell, and Delanie Walker have really had to step up. The good news is that Andre Ellington is going to get to show his stuff while Foster potentially sits. It looks like Matthew Stafford, and a dash of Joe Flacco, will be leading this team into the playoffs. How far can coach Roger push them?
Dirty Birds (5-4)If this team were in Spunky Misunderstood Division, they would be sitting atop those standings, as they’ve got more PF than anyone on that side of the ledger. Instead, while Dirty Birds are averaging 100.7 points, third in the league, Jon’s team has been pounded to a 1-4 intra-division record. With only four games left, they have the upper hand on a post-season spot, but that could slip away quickly.
All of this middling success has happened without the suspended Adrian Peterson, and LeSean McCoy hasn’t really performed up to last year’s standard. With a thin running game, Dirty Birds has turned to the air, unleashing Andrew Luck to the league leading tune of 34.8 ppg. Rob Gronkowski has found his dominant form again too, so it’s mostly been a Luck and Gronk show. Pierre Garcon, Julian Edelman, and Larry Fitzgerald have been around to fill out the receiving corps but it’s rising star Sammy Watkins who has Birds’ fans excited — even though he’s only put up 26.1 points for the team so far. If a running game can be found, the Birds could find themselves with another wild card playoff appearance.
Chunky Monkeys (4-5)
It’s been a tough year for last year’s champion. A title defense is never easy, but there’s no way Evan could have anticipated do a decline to below 0.500. The Monkeys are coming off three straight losses and now a post-season perth is in serious jeopardy. I mean, last week’s 27.6 - 133.3 pounding by Tiiite End Jammers was quite the insult. Yes, it was during a particularly harsh bye week, but two zeros, two negative scores, and a 0.7? Ouch!
The good news is that Monkeys are only one game back and have Philip Rivers leading them — stellar this season excepting last week’s -0.8 outing. Rivers has Julio Jones and Randall Cobb as an excellent one-two receiving punch, and somehow Torrey Smith has been steadier than either Calvin Johnson or Michael Floyd. I mean, Megatron has just been, well, injured. The running game is theoretically in good hands with Jamaal Charles and Giovani Bernard, although Bernard’s recent injury is coming at a bad time. This team is still a contender on paper, but the champs gotta get into the playoffs before they can even dream about repeating.
Athena Nike (3-6)Well, Frank’s second season isn’t exactly going better than his first. Technically Athena Nike have one more win that last season already, and they aren’t the worst team in the league by record, but Nike is averaging a pathetic 72.9 points per game, by far the lowest in the league — the next lowest is 90.9 ppg. It looks like this team is headed straight to the Toilet Bowl, where it’ll face an uphill battle to get a top pick.
The good news is that Aaron Rodgers has returned to top form, re-establishing his franchise quarterback status. Young receiver Allen Robinson has been a nice free agent find too. And um, that’s it for the good news. C.J. Spiller is on injured reserve, Montee Ball hasn’t played since WK5, Ray Rice is suspended (and dropped), Josh Gordon also sitting idle. First rounder Cordarrelle Patterson, the second overall pick in 2015, peaked in the first week of the season. Basically it’s been a mess this year and Frank will have to scrap everything and rebuild. Maybe Markus Wheaton will be a keeper next year, he’s on a two week double digit streak! Okay, that's not exactly exciting...
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