At Midseason, Kalamazoo In the Lead
The first half of the 2003 season saw some of the closest contests in recent memory. There have already been two ties this season, both including the number one and still undefeated Kalamazoo Vikings. The standings have been pretty close all year with the majority all within a win of each other. During the preseason, the President's Picks were released. Lets take a look at the teams and see how they've stacked up for the first half.
Kalamazoo (5-0-2) Projected Finish (12-0-2) 1st
The only team in PWFFL history to earn a playoff berth every year is poised to do it again with a stellar cast that is tough to beat. Two teams came very close to beating the Vikings this year, but the Vikings were able to hang on to the tie. Although an undefeated season is possible and projected, it will be very tough for it to come to pass, all the teams are putting on their best face to try to silence the very vocal Puck, owner of the Vikings. This team has the best chance to hoist the Bribin Cup at year's end.
QB: 4, WR: 1, RB: 1, Spec: 7, Power: 1
Preseason Projected Record: 13-1
Seattle (5-2) Projected Finish (12-2) 2nd
Seattle finally has what they've been looking for, a top flight QB attack. The Slugs are lucky to be 5-2 after the loss of M. Faulk for the past couple weeks. The problem was compounded by the bye weeks. Luckily, they are in 2nd place and look to be battling with the Vikings for the President's Cup all through the second half of the season. Seattle has won the Bribin Cup on every odd year, 2003 could be the year of the Slug.
QB: 1, WR: 3, RB: 6, Spec: 10, Power: 2
Preseason Projected Record: 11-3
Rhode Island (4-3) Projected Finish (9-5) 3rd
The Champs are on pace to return to the playoffs for the fourth straight year. RI has been helped with the stellar play by Manning while Pennington has been recovering from his broken hand. Hines Ward has been the go-to guy for Manning and the Vikings defense has been giving the Ridicule that extra boost they need for the win each week. Rhode Island still has a chance to be the first team to earn back to back championships.
QB: 2, WR: 4, RB: 8, Spec: 4, Power: 3
Preseason Projected Record: 11-3
England (5-2) Projected Finish (8-6) 4th
"The Teasers should be competative with an easy schedule and may even get lucky to be the Cinderella team of 2003" was quoted from the Prez's Picks during the preseason this year. The Teasers have become the Cinderella team of the first half of the season. England still suports one of the lowest power scores, but they have been scoring those extra couple points to outscore their opponant each week. Do they have enough magic left to hang on and to be the first 2002 expansion team to make it to the playoffs? Or will a late season slide have them waiting for next year?
QB: 5, WR: 7, RB: 9, Spec: 9, Power: 10
Preseason Projected Record: 7-7
Rocko (3-4) Projected Finish (7-7) 5th
The Bengals have been struggling this year to put up a consitant threat each week. The quarterbacks and runningbacks, once a strength of the team, have been dragging Rocko down all season. Luckily, they have been staying in the game with a great wide reciever cast and special teamers. If the Bengal's quarterbacks get straightened out, Rocko could be able to save their season and make it to the playoffs for the second straight year.
QB: 12, WR: 2, RB: 11, Spec: 1, Power: 4
Preseason Projected Record: 7-7
Green Bay (3-4) Projected Finish (7-7) 6th
Projected to be a bottom feeder in the preseason, Green Bay is proving that they can hang. The Favre trade made shortly after the protection lists were turned in was what has really made this first half of the season possible for the Fudgepackers. Along with MVP numbers out of Ahman Green, Green Bay has already put out surprising wins over Wisconsin and Timbuktu, and almost beat Seattle. The future could hold the possibility of breaking the Franchise record 6 wins from 2001.
QB: 3, WR: 12, RB: 5, Spec: 5, Power: 7
Preseason Projected Record: 1-13
Wisconsin (2-4-1) Projected Finish (6-7-1) 7th
The Wannabes couldn't imagine what took place in the first half of the season when it started two months ago. Still today, with one of the best rosters in the league they are failing to win games. Part of it has to do with opponants having stellar games against them, but a closer look shows that the slip off has been with the coaching and quarterback, the strengths of the 2002 Wannabes. It will be a tough road ahead for Wisconsin in the second half of the season as they still have another matchup with Kalamazoo, Rhode Island, and Rocko left to contend with.
QB: 11, WR: 8, RB: 2, Spec: 6, Power: 5
Preseason Projected Record: 6-8
Detroit (3-4) Projected Finish (6-8) 8th
The Drive have been another surprising team. Disappointing play from the quarterback position has been dragging Detroit down. With the potential for Vick to be out almost the entire fantasy season, the Drive has been depending on the disappointing Bledsoe. Coles was hot at the start of the season, but has cooled down in recent weeks along with the rest of the wide reciever core. At 3-4, Detroit still has a chance to rebound and make the playoffs, but it will be a tough road with two games against Seattle and a game against Wisconsin still left for them to deal with.
QB: 9, WR: 6, RB: 3, Spec: 8, Power: 6
Preseason Projected Record: 11-3
W. Palm Beach (4-3) Projected Finish (5-9) 9th
W. Palm Beach shocked the world in week 1 with their win over Wisconsin. Since then, the Chads have slowly been coming back to the team that everyone thought they would be. Portis was lost for a couple games which put a hamper on their thin runningback core. Now with him back, the Chads are back into contention, but their toughest part of the schedule is in the second half of the season as they face Kalamazoo, Rhode Island, and Rocko in the coming weeks. If they can get a winning record out of the second half of the season, the Chads won't need a recount to get voted into the playoffs.
QB: 6, WR: 5, RB: 10, Spec: 3, Power: 9
Preseason Projected Record: 7-7
Timbuktu (3-4) Projected Finish (5-9) 10th
What a difference a year makes. The Buccaneers were one of the hottest teams this time last year, but managed to blow it and missed the playoffs. Something tells me that I should have projected at 4-3 second half to give the Buc's their third straight 7-7 season, but with two games against Seattle and another against Detroit that will be hard for the Bucs to accomplish. Gannon, the savior of Timbuktu last year, has been disappointing making the Buc's rely on a surprisingly strong running game. Timbuktu will win games in the second half squarly on the shoulders of their defense and hopefully will be able to avoid anymore injuries that have plagued the team this year.
QB: 10, WR: 9, RB: 4, Spec: 2, Power: 8
Preseason Projected Record: 4-10
Benton Harbor (2-4-1) Projected Finish (4-9-1) 11th
The jewel of the Hoodlem's first half of the season was the near win over the Vikings in week 6. In fact, for a couple days Benton Harbor had a victory over Kalamazoo. That was until the NFL decided to count a Raven's blocked Punt return as a special team's TD unstead of a defensive TD. This Turned a six point win into a tie. There hasn't been anything steller about the Hoodlem's play this year, but they are finding a way to stay in their games and give each of their opponants a run for their money. The second half of the season looks to be more like the first, close games but more losses than wins.
QB: 7, WR: 11, RB: 7, Spec: 12, Power: 11
Preseason Projected Record: 5-9
Northern Michigan (1-6) Projected Finish (1-13) 12th
Most expansion teams struggle to find their footing in the first half of their first season. The Yoopers found this to be the case also, but things have been looking up in the upper penninsula. They've been getting good play out of their quarterbacks and a lot of their young runningbacks are starting to gain more playing time. If the Yoopers can start getting more production out of their wide recievers and special teams, N. Michigan could play the spoiler and will have a big impact on the playoff races.
QB: 8, WR: 10, RB: 12, Spec: 11, Power: 12
Preseason Projected Record: 1-13
