[EddieMcD]

Alright, we’re halfway through this season. Seven more weeks until playoffs. Here’s best of the first half:

Most Valuable QB:

Peyton Manning (Philly Cheesesteaks)
Philly has 478 fantasy points. Manning himself has just under a third of their total points. Here’s the kicker (pun not intended): the Cheesesteaks are 5-2.

Honorable Mention: Byron Leftwich
The Bonecrushers lost a tough one this past week, but Leftwich has been providing steady scoring all season. That appears to align with the Bonecrushers’ M.O.



Best Running Game

Priest Holmes (Rhode Island Charge)
Rhode Island may be struggling due to bad judgment calls, but Holmes himself has blown all opposing running duos out of the water. The Priest is tops in the league with 11 touchdowns. He’d be even deadlier if the Charge could solve their other problems. They remain at 3-4 at the half.

Honorable Mention: B.J. Sams & Corey Dillon
The Monkeys went shaky the past few weeks, but were in the right every time their running game performed. While far from the best, it’s half the reason they’re in contention.



Best Receiving Game

Marvin Harrison & Reggie Wayne (The Shoats)
Well, at least the first five games. They were silent in The Shoats’ two losses. But when they’re performing, you have one of the top teams of the league. They could be what carry The Shoats to the playoffs and beyond.

Honorable Mention: Torry Holt & Donald Driver
Holt has Marc Bulger throwing to him, and Driver has Favre. Cooney Quest has been able to take close matches with this duo.



Most Valuable Kickers
I had to split it between two good players which made an effect on standings.

Adam Vinatieri (Cooney Quest)
Cooney is at the top, and the only reason they are up top is the close games they edge opponents out in. And with every point counting, the pro-bowl kicker gets them what they need, when they need it. He has more than once been a difference in a win or a loss.

Dan Ackers (Philly Cheesesteaks)
Again, that 5-2 record has a lot to do with a performing kicker. The top scoring kicker, Ackers’s success has come from the fact that although he misses occasionally, he has an offense which scores touchdowns allowing him to kick PATs.

Honorable Mention: Jason Elam
Really, this is all high scoring kicker with a winning team. While The Shoats don’t get as much of a benefit from Elam as the previous two teams, he provides a small prop with respectable scores.



Most Productive Offense

Bonecrushers
Led by the aforementioned Byron Leftwich and Terell Owens, every player on that offense manages to contribute. It’s essentially the reason why they’re in third place.

Honorable Mention: Toronto Phantoms/Fumblers
Their offense is more of a conglomerate than the Bonecrushers. They’re in the Honorable Mention portion because they had a string of tough losses earlier on. However, if they keep playing the way they the did the past two weeks, that’ll be a moot point.



Most Dominant Defense
Really, the only defense which has made a huge impact is the Valleygirls. However, the two honorable mentions are listed as such because both have a defense and defensive players at the top of the list.

Valleygirls
I mean, come on, it’s Baltimore. Supplemented by Jamie Sharper and Dat Nguyen, the Girls maintain their presence with this defense.

Honorable Mention: Dunedain
Dunedain is in last place, but only because of a terrible offense. Their defense is composed of Derrick Brooks, Mike Peterson, Lamont Thompson, and Pittsburg. It’s probably the only thing they can cheer about right now.

Honorable Mention: Rhode Island Charge
This defense helps keep Rhode Island’s fantasy scores up. The Giants, Ed Reed, and Keith Brooking (and Michael Strahan to a lesser extent) all made themselves known in the Charge’s three wins.



The Playoff Picture
With seven weeks left, technically, nobody’s eliminated yet. Keyword there is technically. The Hurricanes and Dunedain have had nothing going for them this year, and are most likely not going to make it. On the other side of things, Philly, the Bonecrushers, and the Valleygirls look solid for playoff activity. Everybody else has a catch (including the team in first; more on that later).


The Shoats are running on two losses in a row (and that tie may kill them in the end). The Monkeys and X-Cats have both stopped a downfall with one win. No clue if that can hold, however, if it can, look for those two teams in the playoffs. The Lightning are probably the most average team in the league, who have been ebbing and flowing all year. I’ll put them in as a good choice for playoffs. The Jets, on the other hand, have gotten all their victories on the teams at the bottom. They need to pick up on the scoring, or they’ll just start sinking when the tougher teams arrive on the schedule.


The lower half of the league is led by the Charge. Rhode Island has a few roster issues to sort out, but also with the ebb and flow pattern they’ve been having, combined with a relatively easy schedule the second half, they may take a low spot in the playoffs (and the high fantasy score can only help). Toronto started fumbling after week one. In week six, they started a small winning streak. With an even difficulty of schedule, if they can keep on their roll, they’ll also make it. The Juggernauts took off in the early weeks, and then faded away. In my opinion, this fading can only increase. The Borg and Nor Cal may pull surprises on us, but their fantasy scores are quite low due to them beating up on lower teams. TSfR just started winning, and have a small chance at making it, and the Clan can’t afford their only periodic wins.


Which leaves us with our anomaly: Cooney Quest. Their record says they’re the best. Their average margin of victory says differently. I seriously have no clue where to place them, or even if they’ll make the playoffs. The league is so close that Cooney could drop three games, and be back in tenth. And the fact that they’ve been squeaking by only makes this more of a possibility. It’ll be exciting to watch what happens.


And with that, my half-season review is done. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to finally get some sleep. Here's to an exciting playoff hunt.