Don't Count This Team Out

Mike Carlson. Getty Images.

Jake Marisnick and Andrew Benintendi just keep winning. They don't always post the highest score I've ever seen, but they have consistently do what they need to do to win. They faced the 2nd place squad managed by Mike Napoli going into this week and took care of business.

Napoli surely is regretting starting Tua Tagovailoa over Kirk Cousins, but facing a 49ers squad in primetime, nobody could blame him for that decision. But Marisnick and Benintendi go by with Breece Hall and CeeDee Lamb on bye and Justin Jefferson on IR to pull out a victory despite lackluster performances from ustin Herbert and D'Andre Swift. They're a team to watch going into the 2nd half of the season.

Meanwhile, the current 1st place squad managed by Mike Trout continues to roll taking down Alex Bregman and Brian McCann who had the misfortune of having Bijan Robinson on Sunday.

They had some high scorers with Patrick Mahomes and Jonathan Taylor, but also had five players score less than seven points. Trout rolled even with Ja'Marr Chase and Adam Thielen on a bye. Darren Waller also had a big coming out party and Trout's team continues to dominate.

Speaking of dominate, don't sleep on Dave Portnoy! He's got the #1 RB and #1 TE in the game by a wide margin. Josh Allen could very well finish as QB1 and if Raheem Mostert's volume stays high, he may very well be the top team in the league.

Meanwhile the Phillies duo of JT Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber have been riding their hometown guy in A.J. Brown, but his heroics weren't enough this week against Davey Pageviews. They were let down by their Matthew Stafford/Cooper Kupp stack and Amari Cooper was ery quiet on Sunday. They're still the playoffs in the #6 spot now though.

Right behind them is Manny Machado who can't get enough from his Quarterback position. Which is especially bad when you're facing a Lamar Jackson-led team.

The trio of Joc Pederson, Austin Barnes, and Alex Wood are a team to keep an eye on as they're putting up big numbers with studs like Derrick Henry (bye) and De'Von Achane (IR) out. They have as talented a team as anybody in the league top to bottom.

Speaking of talent, Eric Hosmer's team is loaded with it. Unfortunately it has only resulted in two wins. But he's partially to blame starting Sam Howell over Trevor Lawrence!

On the other side, Shane Bieber and Austin Hedges had Jordan Addison on the bench and rolled anyway behind big performances from Jahmyr Gibbs, Jerome Ford, Christian Kirk, and the Browns D/ST. They are firmly in playoff contention in the 8th spot at 3-4.

Mike Moustakas is making another push to be in the playoff conversation, picking up a much needed win against last year's champion/current last place Wil Myers. Starting an inactive DK Metcalf is a sure fire way to cost yourself a game, but his big bet on Brock Purdy seems to be blowing up in his face now.

Here's where we stand through seven weeks: