The first-round byes remain the same, but there are a number of changes in other spots compared to last week. As always, click on the chart itself to see a week-by-week comparison.
Ok, let's see what we have in store for this week...
Brenda's Bulldogs got a huge AFC North win last week which solidified her position atop the division. Now she has a chance to widen the gap even further by taking on StuB. A win here would give her an extremely big boost heading into her late-season bye week and give her a much smoother road towards another division title. For his part, StuB is 2.5 games back and is heading into "must win" territory. He's not there quite yet, but a loss here would make for a very difficult time down the stretch.
The AFC South has a new leader this week, with Mother Cluckers currently on the best winning streak she's posted since winning the 1-On-1 Super Bowl four years ago. With her fifth consecutive victory last week, she's now leapt over Yellow Jackets to take over the top spot in the division. However, Yellow Jackets is now in a position to take that title right back with a win here. Both these players are 2-0 in divisional matches this season, so someone is going to pull off a very impressive first-half division sweep -- and whoever does so will be solidly in the driver's seat heading into the second half of the season.
With Mike C at the top-ranked player in the league and Vlad M quietly putting together the league's best winning streak, the AFC East has turned into an incredibly competitive division. While a .500 record will get you the division lead elsewhere, here it'll put you at the bottom. That's what we have in action this week, as Deesato and Ethan C put their respective 4-4 records on the line to see who can make a move and try and keep up with the big guns of the division. It's going to be an awfully big (but not impossible) task for either of these players to try and win the division, so a Wild Card spot would be the more sensible thought here. There are still several AFC players posting strong records however, so while a win here will be nice, it will also need to just be a first step.
The AFC West is in full divisional action this week, starting with an exceptionally important showdown between Why Not Zoidberg? and Big Blue. These two have been trading the division lead back and forth for the past three weeks, and now we find them meeting head-to-head in a match which will likely go a long way towards determining the fate of the division. Lyle Alzado and Better Name Pending will also be looking to make a move in the AFC West, and the winner of this one could be just one match out from the division lead. It's not a stretch to predict that there will not be a Wild Card player coming from this division, so the message here is clear: Start stacking up the wins, because the division title is the only road to the postseason to be had here.
Over in the NFC South we have Schwantoes and Monster Rain each trying to make some noise and break away from the pack. This is another division where a .500 record is currently good enough for the lead. That's never a good thing for the leader, but contenders love having a clear path towards a shot at the title. If one player can put together three or four straight wins, then it would be difficult to imagine a scenario where they wouldn't emerge as division leader down the stretch. All that's left now is to see who make a run at it.
We'll wrap things up in the NFC North, which has all its players in action this week as well. Rabid Ferrets is currently leading the conference, and has a two-match cushion on his division lead heading into this week. No time for complacency though, even considering his four-match winning streak over Ignats dating back to 2009. One slip could be very costly, at the very least leading to the loss of a potential first-round bye. For his part, Ignats will be looking to make a push back into contention with back-to-back wins after a lengthy mid-season losing streak. A win here would be a huge boost to his season.
Rooting for Ignats this week will be both Pigskin Palookas and Bassturds, who are looking to make moves of their own towards the division lead. These two met just three short weeks ago, with Pigskin Palookas coming out on top. Since then, Pigskin Palookas has been on a winning streak and Bassturds has been on a losing streak -- will this signal the end of their respective streaks, or be just more of the same?
Ok everyone, that's it for the preview. Remember, this week begins the NFL's Thursday Night Football schedule -- your pick for that game is due in by 12 noon on Thursday. So make sure you get your picks submitted on time, please! Until then, enjoy the week!
Ok, that's it for the preview. Check back on Sunday to see how things shape up, and good luck all!
Congratulations go out to Brenda's Bulldogs -- in addition to taking over the top spot in the Power Rankings, she also picked up this week's Player of the Week award -- nicely done!
It's easy to see how Brenda's Bulldogs made her move up the chart -- she was the only player ranked in the top six to pick up a win this week, leading to a lot of changes on the chart. Take a look at this week's Standings to see how it all came together, and check the finalized pick chart to see how we got there. And as always, make sure you have your picks submitted on time -- that's by noon Eastern for the Thursday game and 8:00 Friday for the rest. Have a great week, everyone!
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