Buffy (9-1)To be honest, it would be tough to stomach a year where Buffy came off a championship and then went undefeated during the next season. That dystopia came very close to happening. After ripping off nine wins, it took a Herculean WK10 from Chunky Monkeys just to stop the streak. Whew! Buffy has been this year's top scoring team, gone over the century mark every week save one, and features the best RB and WR in the game: Arian Foster and A.J. Green. On top of that, there's a ton of depth with Matt Forte, Victor Cruz, Wes Welker, and Miles Austin. Quarterback could be a semi-weakness, but really, Joe Flacco, Jay Cutler and Andy Dalton have been good enough all year. So, Roger is poised to become the first back-to-back CTDB champion ever. Who's scared?
Ante Up (6-4)
Ante Up was second place in this division last year and they're headed toward the same fate this year. Clearly they have regular season success on lock with Aaron Rodgers, Ray Rice, and LeSean McCoy leading the way. However, Ante Up can be a bit erratic as they've been subject to a crop of receivers that are serviceable but tend to be a bit up and down. James Jones, Denarius Moore, Brandon Lloyd, and Lance Moore are mainly B-level WRs but as a fleet, they should be good enough to get Jae's team to the conference finals. The question is if they'll be able to fight through and get some post-season success this year. This top heavy team is too good not to challenge for a championship soon.
Chunky Monkeys (5-5)After failing to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, the Monkey are poised to return, albeit as a lower seed. Surprisingly, the traditional strong ground game has been eclipsed by the passing game of Matthew Stafford, Reggie Wayne, Calvin Johnson, and Julio Jones. But it's not like the running game has disappeared completely. Trent Richardson and Jamaal Charles are both in the top dozen overall RBs -- although Charles has faded badly recently. Ryan Mathews is proving not to be a franchise caliber player, and he will now cede top back of the future status to Richardson, who looks like a genuine stud. Evan's team is on a streak of three century games -- and just ruined Buffy's undefeated season -- so he's building good steam for a post-season upset or two.
Dirty Birds (4-6)
We've already documented the travails of the Dirty Birds this season. Great on paper, terrible in reality. Matt Ryan and the passing game are fantastic, with Roddy White, Rob Gronkowski, and Tony Gonzalez all performing as top ten WR/TEs, and Adrian Peterson has been hot like fire recently. Despite all that, Jon only has an outside shot of making the playoffs -- if they can keep winning. It's safe to say that this season has been disappointing after management began the year with championship aspirations. The Birds have gone over 100+ in each of the last five weeks but that has only resulted in three wins. Tough times. The trade lines are humming as the Dirty Birds contemplate their future.
Tiiite End Jammers (3-7)After going 5-8 last year and dwelling in the cellar, Lei could repeat that performance this year. Four straight losses from weeks six through nine doomed them. There's an ultra strong receiving group here with Percy Harvin, Marques Colston, and Demaryius Thomas, but the lack of a ground game has weakened Lei's offensive attack. DeMarco Murray, Reggie Bush, and the injured Maurice Jones-Drew haven't cut it. Despite contributing the most points so far at the QB position, the Jammers just cut Ben Roethlisberger, clearing the way for Tony Romo to start again. After a mid-season slump, Romo has posted 20+ points in four of his last five games so he'll stabilize the team post-Big Ben. If they pull it together fast, the Jammers can aim for a rousing victory in the upcoming Toilet Bowl!
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