The Season at the Midway Point

I'd like to write a team-by-team rundown of the first seven games of the season, but I don't have the energy to write it and, frankly, I'm fairly certain none of you have the energy to read it.  But I do want to cover some highlights.

It may require divine intervention to stop the Leviathans

Any discussion of the season needs to start with the absolute dominance shown by the Leviathans.  Not only are they the sole undefeated team at this point, they also lead the league in scoring, averaging better than 10 points per week better than the next highest scoring team, Los Diablos.  None of their victories have even really been close, with their smallest margin of victory coming in week 3 over AirMex, a harrowing 65-51 nail-biter.  Their dominance is actually a bit surprising, considering their roster.  Yes, they have studs in Peyton Manning, Arian Foster and Julius Thomas, as well as surprising emerging stars like Lamar Miller and Golden Tate, but beyond that the roster is pretty ordinary.

So, odds are the Leviathans will eventually fall.  The only real question is whether it happens in the playoffs, which they have all but clinched at this point.

The Leviathans probably WON'T get their first taste of defeat this week, however, as they happen to be playing the current cellar-dweller, Strike Team.  Stirke Team started off the season with 6 consecutive losses, but they picked up their first win against Golden Grahams, so maybe this will be the start of a run.  Or maybe not.

Somewhat ironically, Strike Team's closest neighbor at the bottom of the standings are the Orion River Horses, suggesting that the curse of the former champions (River Horses 2011, Strike Team 2012) is indeed real.  Not only do they trail the league by win-loss record, they are also the two lowest-scoring teams in the league.

This trend makes me more nervous than my own mediocre 4-3 record so far.

The good news is that while the Leviathans will almost certainly claim a playoff spot, and Suspended Atomnation has a leg up on the rest of the field, the league still has its usual glut of 3- and 4-win teams at this point of the season, meaning that the final 2 or 3 playoff spots are still up for grabs.  Why, I dimly recall a couple of years ago, some team in our league started the season 0-5, only to win their final 9 games and take the #1 seed for the playoffs (does anyone remember which team that was?).

So take a good look at your rosters --- and everyone else's --- figure out some intriguing trade possibilities, keep scouring the waiver wire, and bring your best game out for the next 7 weeks.

It will make it that much more satisfying when I claim the title yet again.