Mid-Season: Green and White

One of our two 2015 Super Bowl contestants came from this division, with three total playoff teams to boot. Still, the two titles from here both come from Detroit Players, and those were long ago. Still, all three top teams here have a chance to return to the post-season again, which would be quite something. Let’s evaluate their chances! [2015 Mid-Season]

Sweep the Leg Zabka (6-3)
After suffering an upset Super Bowl defeat, Alan went back home, licked his wounds, and came right back this season to emerge as a contender once again. Buoyed by an astounding 168.5 WK6, Zabka is the second highest scoring team in the league, riding a four game win streak, and clearly firing on all cylinders behind offseason trade acquisition Drew Brees (for Ryan Tannehill and Rashad Jennings!), Odell Beckham, Rob Gronkowski, and Kelvin Benjamin. That receiving core would be even better if Sammy Watkins hadn’t been injured and MIA most of the season.

The only thing slowing Zabka a little bit so far has been its run game, which has had 2016 first round pick Matt Jones and Latavius Murray dealing with injuries, forcing a platoon with the recently picked up Jonathan Stewart, as well as Terrance West. Two of those four should emerge as the season goes along, and with that nasty passing attack only getting better as the season goes along, these Spartans are looking for a return trip to the title game.

Mandalorian Warriors (5-4)
As Brees’ old team, and the team Zabka bounced in last year’s playoffs, Mandalorian Warriors are looking for some postseason revenge of their own. Of course, after starting off 4-1, they’ll have to right the ship as they’ve slid to just one win their last four matchups. With one more month to go in the regular season, a division title is still within reach, but Warriors will have to work for it. Especially since they’ve faced the toughest schedule in the league so far, at a whopping 96.5 PA average.

GM Matt had a hell of a draft, grabbing DeMarco Murray in RD2 and Christine Michael in RD3. With Murray returning to fantasy prominence, the ground game for Warriors is back! And despite Aaron Rodgers’ real life struggles, he’s still the #4 ranked quarterback around. He’s got Larry Fitzgerald in the slot, Mike Wallace going deep, TE Zach Miller showing his stuff, and hopefully some more catches for Julian Edelman coming up for the rest of the season. If everyone can get on-board for just a few more games, Warriors will likely get their change to avenge last season’s playoff loss.

Detroit Players (4-5)
Despite being the lowest scoring team in the division, Players are within shot of a wild card spot, and possibly even more, although their inconsistency betrays them. They can’t seem to get a back-to-back win, and they’ll need to string together at least one of those as the weeks go on. Better quarterback play would help, as Jameis Winston and rookie Carson Wentz have both been so-so options, although Winston could be coming on.

This team is currently led by its receivers, as AJ Green and Jarvis Landry are a nice one-two punch. With Green having a fantastic year and carrying this team on his back. The running attack has been entirely boom and bust, with Mark Ingram and Jeremy Hill taking turns going loud and then all quiet — plus the preseason loss of Dion Lewis. A better tight end than Zach Ertz could help too, although that may be hoping for too much. But if Ariel wants to bring his team into the playoffs, he’ll need to find some firepower down the stretch, and hope all his guns can start firing at once.

Shoguns of Harlem (2-7)
Last year, Shoguns went 6-7, the only Green and White team to not finish at least 0.500. But they came close to a Toilet Bowl victory... However, this year, it looks like six wins will be entirely out of the question for them as they’ve already equaled their losses from last season. Remember just two years ago when Shoguns won this division? Nope, us neither. Past success doesn’t help much when you’re riding a four game losing streak, with no end in sight and a hell of a divisional month to get through — plus a WK10 matchup with 7-2 Bamfers.

Aside from some nice early games from Matthew Stafford and Kyle Rudolph, this team has been hurting for anyone to step up. Alshon Jeffery has caught just one TD on the season, Jeremy Maclin and Travis Benjamin have been here and there, and Shoguns’ leading rusher, Bilal Powell, has only topped double digits twice so far. Rookie Derrick Henry hasn’t worked out, Arian Foster is injured (of course), and now it’s down to Seahawks rookie CJ Prosise, who might be just a third-string back on his own team. At least Case Keenum is getting a bye week start! Whoof, this team is bad, and they’ll have to hope for another good Toilet Bowl showing to save the season. Sorry Mike, but good luck in the cellar competition this year!