Best-of-the-best: first half!
Most Valuable QB
Tom Brady (Team Jack)
Talk about your major players. He's 49 points up on the next highest-scoring QB, and is the main source of points on a team vying for first place. This one's kinda easy.
Honorable Mention: Peyton Manning
The Silver Lobos are in first place, and it's no surprise that Peyton is on their roster. With 84 points, he's not the only reason the Lobos are on top, but they wouldn't be on top without him.
Best Running Game
LaDanian Tomlinson, Edgerrin James, & Clinton Portis (What Am I Doing Here)
What am I doing here? I'm staring at three backs in the top 11. Despite a slow start, LT is now the second-best back in the league, and James & Portis provide excellent auxiliary scoring. And more proof that WAIDH deserves this award is the fact that two of their losses came to opponents breaking the 100 mark, and the third was with LT on a bye. Not too shaby.
Honorable Mention: Marion Barber III, Willis McGahee, & Jerious Norwood
What am I doing here? I'm staring at three backs in the top 12 (copy & paste FTW!). The Rhode Island Drive's three backs aren't as great as WAIDH's (heck, most of Norwood's points are from returning; his lone rushing TD does make him eligible for placement though), but you can't discount their usefulness in both of the Drive's back-to-back triple-digit games and their overall #2 fantasy point ranking.
Best Receiving Game
Steve Smith & Chad Johnson (Indiana Ironmen)
There are receivers that are better than these two, but no team, by far, has a better duo. A combined 9 TDs and 1176 receiving yards, these two are always at the forefront of the Ironmen's highlights.
Honorable Mention: Randy Moss & Andre Davis
Remember what I said about there being better receivers? Moss is the best, and is absolutely dominating. Andre Davis may look a bit out of place, but he does contribute his fair share. The Stud Man Clan look to make a second-half push with these two leading the way.
Most Valuable Kicker
Matt Stover (Indiana Ironmen)
All the higher-scoring kickers are on teams under .500, and they're really not that much better than Stover. While not as electrifying as the aforementioned receiving duo, Stover is seen putting up points every week.
Honorable Mention: Jay Feely
I'm fairly certain I haven't mentioned Feely at all this season, but that doesn't mean he wasn't there. Team Jack has won 6 straight, and the consistent scoring from the kicker spot means one less worry for them.
Most Productive Offense
Rhode Island Drive
It's just like the RB award earlier, but with two major twists. First is Devin Hester profiting off of teams stupid enough to kick the ball to him in Rhode Island's WR/TE spot; he's ranked 4th among all receivers. Second is the Drive's "quarterback by committee" featuring the fourth-ranked Derek Anderson and the getting-better-with-every-week Brian Griese. Add back in Barber III, McGahee, Norwood, & a top 10 kicker, and you can see why the Rhode Island Drive have the second-most fantasy points.
Honorable Mention: What Am I Doing Here
It's just like the RB award earlier. WAIDH even have a better receiver than the Drive in Plaxico Burress, plus a top ten kicker themselves. Where they lose this award though is at QB. They're stuck with Schaub & Young. It's their big flaw, but one that could get better as the season progresses.
Honorable Mention: Silver Lobos
The Silver Lobos are number one all around, but ironically, it's not because they're the best everywhere. Yes, they have Peyton Manning. Yes, they have probable Rookie of the Year (and best single RB right now) Adrian Peterson. But the majority of their scoring comes from the rest of their offense being consistently in the middle of the pack. It ain't pretty. It ain't flashy. But it is effective.
Most Dominant Defense
Dunedain
This was a tough one because of Dunedain's record. But their five losses are all on their offense. Seattle is the top DEF, and Barrett Ruud & Michael Boley are both top-five defensemen. Gabril Wilson isn't half bad either. Now, about ditching Seattle before Week VIII...
Honorable Mention: Youngstown Hitmen
If Dunedain gets the full award, then the Hitmen deserve at least an honorable mention. Chicago is the second-best DEF, and Julian Peterson, Will Witherspoon, & Osi Umenyiora are all in the top 15. Too bad they have no offense...
Honorable Mention: Rhode Island Drive
They're not nearly as good as the first two, but Rhode Island's defense has saved their bacon on numerous occasions. Minnesota is the third-best DEF (and they have 8th best Washington to go to on odd weeks), DeMeco Ryans is the top defensive player of the first half, London Fletcher is ranked 8th, & Eric Wright keeps piling on the singles.
Honorable Mention: Indiana Ironmen
And if I mention Rhode Island, I have to mention Indiana. Their three defensive players are in the top 20, and they have #4 New England for a DEF. Their defense isn't as much of an entity on its own (hence just getting an honorable mention), but combined with their offense... Yikes.
Playoff Picture
We have six weeks left, and absolutely no chance for strength-of-schedule controversies! It looks like, since more than half of the teams competing will get into the playoffs, that 7 wins will be the number to hit. And since both the Lobos and Team Jack have matches that are very much in their favor and 6 wins already, I'd bet my lunch money on both teams seeing postseason action. The XaulZans may need to be careful though, as they only have two sub-.500 teams left to play and were never really a high scoring team to begin with.
The Drive, Force, Ironmen, & WAIDH may wind up controlling who gets into the playoffs, and who stays home. All four have the Zans, but other than the Drive's recent surge and WAIDH's recent skid, there isn't much else going on. In fact, their combined schedules are so relatively easy, that these four teams may break so far away from the bottom half of the league that it may be all but impossible for the top 6/7 to be broken into from here on in. It should be interesting.
The Isotopes and the Clan both just broke three-game losing streaks with a much needed win. I actually wouldn't be shocked if both teams went 3-3 and wound up deciding the last playoff spot among themselves.
But the real action is down bottom. Any one or more of these teams can very easily make a 5-1 surge (and someone always does). Just look at the X-Cats; they have their first winning streak of the season. And if the Crushers can steal either Week VIII or IX, that 7 game mark is all of a sudden in reach. The Scapegoats have slightly more work to do, especially from dead last, but beating the right 4 teams could secure them a bottom spot. Dunedain & the Hitmen both have very difficult second-half schedules to overcome, which means they'll have the most work to do if they want to play in the playoffs. But keep in mind that these five are all currently only a single game out of 8th place, and therefore, far from finished.
Finally, for completeness, here are the magic numbers:
- Lobos & Jack are in with 4 wins, or 3 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes.
- Zans are in with 5 wins, or 4 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes.
- Drive, Force, Ironmen, & WAIDH will be in the playoffs if they win out. Also, 5 wins and a loss from either the Clan or Topes will work too.
- Clan & Topes are straddling the border, but if one wins out, and the other suffers from a single loss, the one that wins out will be guaranteed at least 8th. If one team fails to win another game, and the other wins a single game, the team that loses out will be eliminated.
- Dunedain, X-Cats, Hitmen, Crushers, & Scapegoats will be eliminated if they lose out. 5 losses plus a single win from either the Clan or Topes would also eliminate them.
These are all basic. Anything deeper would need a supercomputer, and I'm fairly certain the results would be quite boring anyway. I suppose all that's left to say about the playoffs is this: WIN, WIN, WIN!
This concludes our first half analysis & awards. Refreshments are available in the lobby. Please leave in an orderly fashion, and remember that we will be returning in the next few days for the first postgame analysis of the second half. See you then!