|
|
|
At Midseason Seattle In the Lead
[10.24.02] This is the first season for four very deserving teams. It has been reported that the President of PWFFL is very pleased with how competative all of the teams are this year. The high level of play made for a very exciting and close first half. After Week 7, halfway through the season, defending Puck Bowl champion Seattle Slimy Slugs are atop the standings with a 6-1 record. Their only loss came at the hands of second place Wisconsin Wannabes. Here are the report cards for the first half of the season and a feeble attempt to predict the future and see how this will all shake out by the end of the season.
Seattle Slimy Slugs (6-1): Projected Finish (12-2) 1st
Seattle has been on fire and things look like they will continue, barring injures. The runningback core of the Slugs are the best in the league. Tomlinson and Faulk will single handedly win mainy of Seattle's games in the second half. Seattle's Wide Receivers are equally impressive. Harrison, Moss, and Tim Brown are consistantly in the top 10 in scoring week in and week out. The Slugs also field a strong secondary with players in the top 5 at the TE, K, and DEF positions for the first half of the season. The one position that they have serious questions is at quarterback. This is one position the Slugs have yet to find a reliable consistant performer since they joined the league in 1999 and things don't look up for the rest of year for the Seattle quarterbacks.
Kalamazoo Vikings (5-2): Projected Finish (11-3) 2nd
Kalamazoo started out slow like it does most every year but has bounced back and will most likely string together a number of wins in the comings weeks. Kalamazoo's real strength lies in their depth. Except for having the top TE in the league in Tony Gonzalez, most of the Vikings would be classified in the "very good" category, but the depth provides Kalamazoo with staying power and very little drop off in talent in case an injury strikes.
Timbuktu Buccaneers (4-3): Projected Finish (11-3) 3rd
Timbuktu is one of the teams on the rise. Sporting the best quarterback in fantasy football right now in Rich Gannon and the best defense in PWFFL has gotten the Bucs in line for a playoff run this year. If Gannon can keep up the same pace and with the schedule they face, Timbuktu will be going to the playoffs with an undefeated second half.
Wisconsin Wannabes (5-1-1): Projected Finish (9-4-1) 4th
The Wisconsin Wannabes have been very strong in the first half. The Wannabes's best player is also by far the best player in PWFFL, Priest Holmes. Wisconsin also boasts a strong wide receiver core with Rod Smith, Booker, and Toomer while also having another strong runningback in Davis. Brett Favre will bounce back from his injury not to miss much time although backup Griese would be able to fill in without the Wannabes missing a beat. They have a tough schedule coming up, playing all of the other top four teams at least once but they will be strong enough to come away with a chance to keep their Puck Bowl hopes alive.
Benton Harbor Hoodlems (3-4): Projected Finish (8-6) 5th
Benton Harbor looks to be the most improved team from 2001. The Hoodlems are starting to get the hang of who to start. The talent they have assembled during the course of a little over a year has translated into something new for them this year, wins. The top Hoodlems this year have been the surprising Garner, along with the best wideout of the first half in Moulds. The addition of T. Green has provided a very good backup to the subpar performances lately of Garcia at quarterback this year. The Hoodlems have a good chance at making the playoffs this year if one of those teams above them falter or get hit with a lot of injures during the course of the second half.
Rhode Island Ridicule (3-3-1): Projected Finish (7-6-1) 6th
The Ridicule took a thumping early in the season while having to face the top teams and their star players on bye in the early weeks. A rebound is in store for Rhode Island, although their streak of playoff appearances is in jeopardy of being broken. The strength of Rhode Island is the Coaching and the play at quarterback. Manning, Owens, and Vanderjagt provide a consistant high scoring threat. The Ridicule runningback corp is young and full of potential. By the end of the season, Barlow will become the starting runningback of San Fransico's fantasy juggernaut to accompany Tiki Barber, the starting job of the Giants who frequently posts double digit numbers.
Rocko Bengals (5-2): Projected Finish (6-8) 7th
The Rocko Bengals have been the Cinderella team of the first half. Five wins at midpoint looked almost impossible for the Bengals prior to the season. A closer look will show that the Bengals field two of the top quarterbacks and a very deep runningback team full of stars and average starters. Rocko has a very tough road ahead of them in the schedule. Things look to get a lot worst before it will get better, but maybe the Bengals will surprise everyone again in the second half and make their first trip to the playoffs.
Detroit Drive (1-6): Projected Finish (6-8) 8th
The first of the expansion teams to make the list. The Drive look to be the best of the expansion teams so far this year, although havn't been able to crack the win column but once. Most of that is due to facing very stiff competition in the first half of the season. Their schedule looks to get a lot easier which will translate to more wins than the one they have so far. Detroit is filled with promising youth at both quarterback and runningback. The exciting Mike Vick will lead their team for years to come and even this year in relief for the hot Drew Bledsoe. Travis Henry is the man in Buffalo and along with Wells who will soon take over for Houston gives the Drive something better than the Arizona runningbacks to look forward to. Mare in the kicker spot gives Detroit a reliable option to score double digits each week.
Baltimore Bluejays (2-5): Projected Finish (4-10) 9th
Baltimore is the team you think of when it comes to big wins. In their only two wins of the year have come against the first place team at the time of the game. Drew Brees looks to be a great quarterback pickup in both scoring for this year and youth for future potential. The Bluejays live their life through the air, so its not surprising that they are overfilled with depth in the passing game and very very thin at runningback. Baltimore's entire running game depends on the health and steady points from Jamal Lewis and Houston's James Allen. Also, they have a strong defense in Carolina which may have looked like a questionable call on draft day, but turned out to be one of the best available defenses this year.
England Teasers (2-5): Projected Finish (4-10) 10th
Although projected to have the best draft this year, England has not shown to be the most dominate of the expansion teams yet this year. Tom Brady surprised everyone including England with his strong performance in the first few weeks of the season. The runningback core has shown glimpses of strength with a consistant McAllister ranking among the top runningbacks this year, Duckett who is starting to carry more of the load in Atlanta, and Anderson who is still a goal-line threat. England's receivers are normal producers this year also. Rice, Morgan, and Shockey always give the Teasters a chance to win every week. Akers at Kicker is also a very good option every week. England will have to find a way to score more points in the second half and be more consistant to have a chance at a turn around from their 0-5 start.
W. Palm Beach Chads (3-4): Projected Finish (3-11) 11th
W. Palm Beach has been very active scowering the free agent wire, with good cause. The Chads have been the most affected by injures this year as a lot of their big names have lost significant amounts of time on the sidelines. Just recently their star quarterback Jay Fiedler went down for a few weeks and Deshaun Foster was lost for most of the season not long after draft day. All is not lost however, as both Foster and Fiedler are expected back later in the season, but may not be enough to make a run for the playoffs. Portis whom the Chads drafted number one is turning out to be a force and may develop into the cornerstone of this franchise.
Green Bay Fudgepackers (2-5): Projected Finish (2-12) 12th
What can we say about the Fudgepackers? Green Bay looks to have solidified their quarterback spot for the next few years in Joey Harrington. After riding the bench the first few weeks, Harrington has started to post impressive numbers in his rookie season. Donald Driver was tearing up the league in the first few weeks but it will be hard to tell how well he will do if Favre misses extended time. The bright spot on Green Bay's roster would have to be Ahman Green. He was projected to be a top tier runningback and has produced as such in the games he was able to play in after and before his injury. Jamel White has also been a bright jewel for the Fudgepackers. Will Green Bay prove everyone wrong and turn things around? In some famous words, "that is why they play the games".
