From veteran players running roughshod over the league to surprising rookie performances, we have it all pretty well covered there. Not much change from last week to this week, so if you don't see your name there, time to step it up! No one has been eliminated from playoff contention just yet, so start stringing those wins together and make a move onto the chart.
Ok, divisional previews! First up we have the AFC East leader and only remaining unbeaten player, Mike C, looking to keep things rolling, this time against his son Ethan C. In each of their two previous years together in this pool, each has pulled a season sweep over the other, Ethan C getting the wins in '09 and Mike C cleaning up last year. One thing is for certain -- this division is proving to be seriously competitive, and if Ethan C is hoping to push for a postseason bid, he's going to need to start stringing the wins together. Snapping his dad's regular season 11-match winning streak would be an excellent place to start.
With three wins still being good enough to lead the AFC West, Why Not Zoidberg? and Better Name Pending both are very much in the running here. Big Blue currently has the division lead, but with all four teams currently posting sub-.500 records, it wouldn't take too many consecutive wins to break free from the pack. Why Not Zoidberg? posted an opening-day win over Better Name Pending en route to a 3-0 start. Since then, however, he's been winless -- will another meeting between these two be what kicks in a turnaround?
We've got a critical AFC North match on tap here, with two of the top-five ranked players meeting up in a huge divisional showdown. Both Brenda's Bulldogs and Lacie Belles are on track to make a postseason appearance at the moment, so unless things turn south, both can expect to be playing in January. But only one player can win the division, and if you don't win the division, then you have no shot at getting one of those coveted first-round byes in the playoffs (not to mention the $25 bonus for winning your division). Brenda's Bulldogs are leading the way right now, but Lacie Belles already has a win over her this year -- getting the season sweep would be absolutely huge here.
It's a very different NFC South this season as compared to last year -- in 2010 Schleps and Schwantoes finished #1 and #2, respectively, and they were absolutely dominant, combining for just 10 losses on the year. This season, they've already combined for eight losses and a .500 record is good enough to lead the division at the moment. A look at the Week 5 Standings shows Schwantoes at 4-1 and ranked third in the Power Rankings. Then he faced off against Schleps for the first time this year, and it's been all downhill ever since. Now we've come to the point where Schleps has a chance to move to the top of the division with a win here. For his part, Schwantoes can keep the division lead he's had all season if he can stop the losing streak this week.
If we take another look at the Week 5 Standings and we focus on the NFC West, we see Chocolate Mudbuttons riding high atop the division at 3-1 and Evil Squad Of Evil well below at 1-3. However, a three-match losing streak for Chocolate Mudbuttons combined with a three-match winning streak for Evil Squad Of Evil have certainly turned the tables. Now they're both looking to play catch-up on the conference-leading Secretly Victorious, and each could really use a win this week to try and keep pace.
All righty then, only thing left for now is the picks -- they need to be submitted by 8:00 on Friday, so get 'em in please, and enjoy the week!
First we have Mike C's unbeaten streak riding on the Titans. If they win, Mike C goes to 8-0 -- if the Bengals win it, then Ethan C gets the victory.
Next up we have Better Name Pending looking to rebound with a win by St. Louis, while Why Not Zoidberg? is depending on Arizona.
Finally we have the Bad Mice/Fighting Sporks matchup looking to Sunday Night Football, with Bad Mice rolling with the Ravens and Fighting Sporks swinging the terrible towel for the Steelers.
And that's it for this week's preview -- check back on Sunday afternoon to see how things start coming together. Good luck all!
We had three players go 10-of-14 this week, but it was StuB who picked the highest MNF total, giving him this week's Player of the Week award -- nicely done! And while we're at the halfway point of the season, here's an interesting fact regarding the Player of the Year race: Big Blue has a 3-5 record and is in 22nd place in the Power Rankings...and he's also in the lead for Player of the Year. Go figure.
One important thing to keep in mind -- this week begins the Thursday Night Football schedule -- each week from now through Week 16 will feature at least one game on Thursday nights. That means we're going back to the Thursday pick submission schedule -- your pick for that game is due in by 12 noon on Thursday, while the rest of your picks are due in at the usual time, 8:00 on Friday. Of course, it's always a good idea to fill out the whole pick chart when you send in your Thursday pick, that way you don't have to worry about defaulting on the rest of your picks. And as always, if you send in a set of picks and decide later you want to make changes, you can always send in new picks anytime before the Friday deadline.
Ok, that's about it for this week. Check the finalized pick chart, take a look at the updated Standings and get your picks submitted by the Thursday deadline. Have a great week, all!
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