2025 Week 7 Recap | Midseason Playoff Picture | Who Let the Dogs Out?
Let's take a look at last week. We start off with Blaster's Hound Dogs, who continue to bust that slump
against Walter's Wizards, with a final score of 141.28 to 100.34. Are the Hound Dogs finally taking shape, or is this a flash in the pan that'll give the Hound Dogs just enough to think their team is good? With these back-to-back weeks of high performance, they've been carried by several players —Maye, Swift, McBride —and the hound dog’s grand Vision at the start of the season is coming to fruition. With back-to-back wins, the hound dogs are back in the playoff picture at the right time.
Wizards have now lost two in a row as Saquon Barkley's struggles continue. The Wizards are desperate to get back in the win column, but they now find themselves in the mud for the final few playoff spots. With seven weeks left, anything can happen, but League sources have said that the Wizards are in the market for a big deal. We'll keep a close eye on this. Further, several owners have speculated about what back-to-back playoff misses would do to the once-Mighty Wizards' image around the league, and if he’s lost his fantasy football touch altogether. The League Office isn’t ready to go that far, but we’ve heard others speculate.
Next, we look at the upcoming birthday boys, where the Dragons defeated the flailing Gamblers 102.04 to 91.12. The Dragons have now won three in a row, and while their running backs have not had consistent play this season, they currently have the potential League winner with Jackson Smith-NJigba. The Dragons are now 5-2 and have a lot of talent. Should the Dragons make a move to secure more consistent running back play? Either way, the Dragons are a few wins away from clenching their first playoff birth since 2021— snapping their dreaded 3-year streak and steering clear of the record 4th consecutive Round Risen appearance.
The defending champion Gamblers sit at 2-5. Did the Gamblers tinker themselves out of a win this past week? They opted to go with Baker Mayfield at Detroit instead of Bow Nick's hosting the Giants, leaving nearly 30 points on the bench. They say if you have two quarterbacks, you've got none. Could this be a decision that haunts Gamblers the rest of the season and keeps the 2024 champions out of the playoffs? The good news is that there is some hope amongst the team, as Cam Skattabo and Wan’Dale Robinson have emerged as consistent contributors. The Gamblers will need to survive some bye weeks and start optimizing those lineups.
The Jackalopes took a poison sip of a Julep last week and fell deeper into their woes, as the Juleps defeated the Jackalopes 102.42 to 84.36
Is there a hotter team in the SGL than the Juleps the last 3 weeks? The Juleps are a well-rounded team, even as they survive Brock Bowers and Bucky Irving being out. Will the league look back and see the turning point of their season be that close win over the Skulls in week 5? At the start of the year, the Juleps vowed to get back into top franchise conversations, and it looks like they might be on the path to deliver.
Nobody's been tested this year like the Jackalopes by the fantasy gods. However, these Jackalopes have a high enough floor for any team that has a stinker; these jackets can thump you all over. The Jackalopes have not scored fewer than 81 points since the lowest score recorded in modern SGL history, 45.46 points, in week 3. As teams look ahead and tally wins automatically against these jackalopes, losing could prove devastating come decision week.
The Bulldogs got back to their winning ways with a 108.1 to 84.44 win over longtime SGL rival, the Beavers. This marks the 5th win in a row over Boister’s Beavers, dating back to 2020. The Bulldogs ended their 2-game losing streak and returned to scoring more than 100 points, a streak they've now extended to all five of their wins. Which is great, considering they're getting Terry McLaurin back in and, theoretically, Garrett Wilson back next week. That means they'll have a wide receiver core of Lamb, Davante Adams, Terry McLaurin, and Garrett Wilson. They have the easiest remaining schedule, and I'd say it's safe to pencil in the Bulldogs for the 2025 playoffs.
The Beavers have now lost three in a row and have failed to get over 90 points in each of those losses. Furthermore, they've only gotten over 100 points twice this season. The league office has picked up on several rumors that the Beavers are willing to move on from Christian McCaffrey and Jayden Daniels. However, the price for those players remains incredibly high—the Beavers aren't just going to hand out a championship. If the Beavers lose this week to the Fire Ants, they go to 3-5, and they still have to face the Dragons, the Swans, the Skulls, the Wizards, and the Hound Dogs. Could the Beavers miss the playoffs for the first time since 2020? If we look at history, the Beavers miss the playoffs in twos, so maybe this Beaver has seen its shadow and they’re in for 16 more months of no playoff football.
The Swans narrowly defeated the Snapping Peas, 80.68 to 69.86. This win was critical for the Swans, as they might be the only KVO team to make the playoffs this year, which puts significant pressure on those Swan wings. The Swans secured this win with a monster performance from Jahmyr Gibbs, who scored 35.3 points on Monday. But the Swans aren't quite out of the woods just yet; they've scored less than 81 points over the last 2 weeks, and they still have a pretty tough schedule remaining. Why have the Swans struggled? Taking away the Hampton injury, they've had miscues at quarterback, and fantasy darling Bill has been a disappointment thus far. Additionally, we've seen some of their older players, such as Keenan Allen, JK Dobbins, Stefon Diggs, DK Metcalf, Nico Collins, and Travis Kelce, all start to pull back from the early-season production. That win was big, but they're not quite out of the woods just yet as they face a very hungry Wizards team this week.
Things have gone from bad to worse for the Snappin’ Peas. They have now lost 4 in a row and are in danger of missing the playoffs for 3 of the last 4 years. The poor Peas might have won, but Mike Macdonald refused to put Kenneth Walker in on the goal line on his birthday, and those two touchdowns both went to Zack Chardonnay, which would have won the game for the peas. But could things be looking a little better? The Peas do get back their fearsome tandem of Lamar and King Henry this week, and they have made slight improvements to the tight end and wide receiver room. Just like the Jackalopes, this team could sneak up on somebody if they're not careful.
Lastly, we turn our eyes to the current first-place team, Stull’s Skulls, who easily defeated the Fire Ants on Monday night, 108.24 to 68.66. The Skulls moved to 6-1 on the year atop the SGL standings. The Skulls’ schedule gets a little tougher the rest of the way, but with one more win, they've punched their ticket to the playoffs —and it's not even November. Are the Skulls built for the long haul? Much of their success in the wide receiver room has been built around extenuating circumstances with other teams and players, and with Lamb coming back and Egbuka now nicked up, could there be a slight regression? One thing is for certain: the 2025 fantasy MVP, Jonathan Taylor, shows no signs of slowing down.
The Fire Ants got robbed at a chance to win the game on Monday night as Mike Evans left the game with a concussion and broken clavicle. The Fire Ants could have taken that, and the two other goose eggs from George Kittle, Jameson Williams, and made an omelette! The fire ants are glad to put this week behind them quickly and move on. This loss ends their 3-game win streak.
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