Major shakeup in the polls this week. Things are getting serious fast, as the most anticipated matchup of the regular season looms. A new contender emerges, and several middle of the table teams receive frustrating losses. I told you week 5 and beyond would be a different season.

-Commish

Tier 1: Top Tier

1. Bud Ice Penguins (+1)

What a turn of events for the Penguins. They make a huge trade on Monday to send out AJ Brown and Achane, and this morning Achane is announced to be out for the the upcoming game(s). With Jeff Wilson coming back into the fold and the bevy of keepers already on the roster, a trade like this was inevitable. The Penguins extracted that value excellently by adding Derrick Henry and Mike Evans into the fold. The Penguins have sent a message to the league: they wanna win a goddamn title.

I'm not giving the Penguins the number one spot because I am predicting they will defeat the Sharks this week (stay tuned), but because I now believe this team will outperform the Sharks on a week to week basis. I thought this before the Sharks lost Justin Jefferson for at least a month, but it seems even more likely now. When the deepest team in the league gets deeper, it's scary, but that's what happened. If the Penguins can get the job done this week, they could be in line for an undefeated season and should be the favorites to lock up the lone playoff BYE. 

2. Zark's Sharks (-1)

This is the first time this season that the Sharks fall below number 1 on this list, and it's really been that kind of week for the team. Anthony Richardson messed up his shoulder, JJ will be out for a month, and Saquon / Gibbs are still healing. On top of this, the Bud Ice Penguins made a savvy move at the perfect time right before their big matchup, and could be looking to bolster their roster even further. It's not all bad though, even without these pieces the Sharks have one of the best teams in the league and could very well still beat the Penguins this week. This team is not leaving the top 2 any time soon.

3. PGH Crooners (+4)

Even though there were points left on the table that left this team shy of history, the Crooners just had a breakthrough week and comes out the sole 3-2 team, putting him firmly in 3rd place for the season so far. The Crooners can accomplish any result if Justin Fields continues to play like this. Ja'Marr Chase and Breece Hall reversed my previous narrative of this team having young but unreliable talent. Now it looks like the bet on youth could keep this team relevant for years to come. With Justin Jefferson missing time, Jordan Addison looks to add some more young scoring upside to this team. I feel great about basically the entire starting lineup as long as Fields continue to play like he belongs in the NFL, and if the Crooners can pick up a win against a weakened SL Dynasty in week 6, I think the outlook is very favorable for this team to make it to the playoff. The Crooners also hold the tiebreaker on the Pirates for the rest of the season, as the two teams do not face again. Nathan should be proud of his squad (Crooners, not the Ravens, they suck).

4. Slatt's Slimes (-)

Even though the Slimes fell to 2-3 this past week, I still believe in this team long term. They put up solid points in a close match against the Penguins, as the team continues to pour in points without the help of Austin Ekeler. Mostert and Tyreek Hill should receive a nice bump as Achane exits the Dolphins offensive picture with an injury. This team is second in scoring and I still very much trust what I'm seeing from the front office. I don't have a ton of points to make about this team outside of the fact that I do truly believe they are destined for a playoff spot. They face a surging WFT in week 6, one of two matchups on the season. A win would be a nice way for this team to bounce back, but I have a feeling the matchup will be tight.

Tier 2: Playoff Hopefuls

5. The SL Dynasty (-)

Jack has had a roller coaster of a season, and the latest dip sees him fail to break 100 points for the first time in franchise history. The SL Dynasty is looking extremely light at the RB position. The team is still quite strong in all other areas, which is why I expect this team to still be a problem for most of the league. They're kind of in an in-between spot between legit title contender and bubble team. It all depends on how this team approaches trades this season. Another year of no draft pick trades could doom this team to miss the playoffs, but the wrong draft pick trade could doom the team next season. There's work to be done to get this franchise back on track, but I have to give Jack the benefit of the doubt as he's shown himself (to children) to be a reliable Super League competitor.

6. Parma Pirates (-)

Parma got crushed by PGH this week, but still had a fairly decent showing on the box score. I'm not sure how I feel about this team going forward, but it's clear that if this team wants to make the playoffs, this week is a must win vs. UNFINISHED BIZ. The Pirates are very much in the middle and I could see the season going in polar opposite directions. In the good news category, Kenneth Walker and Jerome Ford already have their BYEs out of the way, so the running attack should be consistent the rest of the way, provided this team stays together. I think we will know which way this team is leaning by week 10.

7. Washington Fantasy Team (+2)

WFT came back guns blazing in week 5, putting up a season high in points and earning the rest of season tie breaker against PAJ (they also hold this on PGH). This team has broken 120 points twice since the roster reform, and this new strategy of hiding the starters on a given week could scare opponents. The real litmus test comes this week, as the Slimes visit Washington. Having Jonathon Taylor back in the mix makes this team dangerous, and because of all the above factors, I think they should now be considered a real playoff threat instead of just a spoiler team. If they win this week it could mean trouble for every team above as another solid team to deal with refuses to go away. I like what I'm seeing this season from Curtis, especially given the starting point.

8. Play Action Jackson. (-3)

Play Action Jackson loses another frustrating one in week 5, dropping to WFT. This team has preformed pretty consistently throughout the year, putting up at least 114 in each of the last 4 weeks, but have had bad luck with opponents scoring high figures against them (2nd most points against). I think I know why the bad luck has come - this team has league worst intangibles. If you polled the league on who the biggest scammer is, without a doubt one of the team owners would win (I might do this, sounds fun). Trade ethics are at an all time low when dealing with this team, and it's clear the owners only have one thing in mind in every dealing - to r*pe. The intangibles will need to get better for this team to get their season turned around. A matchup with a barren Explosive Potential should get the team back to .500, immediately followed by a barrage of tough opponents the rest of the season. I don't like this team's chances of making the playoffs anymore, but there's still some chance. They will need to beat PGH, Parma, and SL Dynasty in every remaining matchup to bolster their chances.

Tier 3: Womp Womp

9. UNFINISHED BIZ (-1)

Carter won a stink fest in week 4, and loses a stink fest in week 5 to the worst team in the league. Even though his record says he's still in the playoff mix, the stats aren't agreeing. He's broken 101 points once so far this season, and with 80% of the league looking competent at this point, Carter really has little chance at making the playoffs. There's really no matchup remaining where I would favor Carter at this point. It's possible we've seen the last win from this team this season. The only hope for this team is getting lucky in the trade market or for opponents to shit the bed. I've seen this guy have crazier things happen to him, but I think not even god tier luck can help him out of the draft pick hole he put himself in this season. UNFINISHED BIZ should sell at the deadline. 

10. Explosive Potential (-)

I like the trade and obviously the win a lot, but with the latest round of injuries, there's basically 0 chance this team competes this season. What Jacob has brought to this franchise has been activity, and it was sorely needed. I am very excited to see this team in 2024, but they will likely keep this spot throughout 2023. Look for this team to be a selling team at the deadline.