Week two featured a couple of surprises and some very good games. Week 3 should prove to be equally exciting as we begin to see a few pack leaders emerge. Only five teams remain unbeaten already this season, how many will continue the trend this week?
Jefferson City Bucks vs Bratislava Butchers: After soundly defeating the Chiefs in week 2, the Bucks face their first true challenge of the season as they travel to the Butcher's Block. Bratislava's bend not break defense bent a little too far against the Mates, first allowing a field goal late in the fourth quarter that eventually led to overtime, then the game winning field goal in the first possession of overtime. Jefferson City's Patrick Irish will be head hunting once again this week, although I don't know how he can improve on his 15 sack game against South City. The Butchers will need to shake off their loss and go back on the attack if they want to continue to be counted among the best in the conference.
Czechoslavakia Mates vs Prague Beersteins: Prague has been cursed with a rather unfortunate schedule, facing greatly superior opponents throughout the first half of the season. Czechoslavakia will look to continue their winning start against the poor Beersteins, having proven their quality with the win over the Butchers. Unable to score any touchdowns so far this season, while allowing over 60 points from both opponents, Prague looks to go 0-3 after this week.
Mombasa Wombats vs Maladorous Football Beavers: After a surprising overtime victory over the Dragons, the Wombats get an early season gift with a gimme game against the Stinky Beavers. The victory keeps them in the undefeated category while they look ahead to Hill Valley next week.
Hill Valley Deloreans vs WhatsaMatta U Fighting Elk: These two teams are both coming off of gimme games this week, and both lost in week 1 to their Alpha opponents. So far it is very difficult to determine which is the better of these teams. A look at the rosters shows the Elk with many higher level players than the Deloreans, but the matchup numbers show Hill Valley with distinct advantages. One would almost have to surmise that the Deloreans players have stronger builds for their level than the Elk. Still, in spite of the numbers game, WhatsaMatta U appears to have a better defense than Hill Valley, so I have to call this one for the Elk.
Secretville Offtopics vs Maribor Triforce: The Offtopics finally picked up a win in their new league, but it was against a former EEA4 foe, the Warsaw Wolfpack. So far, the only team that Secretville has played that they weren't already familiar with was the Bengals in the first preseason game, a tough 45-7 loss. The Triforce have been equally troubled, their only win a preseason squeaker versus Vorkuta. While the matchup shows pretty obvious mismatches on both sides, Secretville is known to be a solid group of gameplanners, paying a lot of attention to film and tendencies. The Triforce are a relative unknown to Secretville, and no amount of game film can give as much insight as the experience of playing a team first hand. Maribor will pick up their first win this week.
Kazakhstan Dragons vs South City Chiefs: The Dragons put up a hell of a fight against the Wombats last week, while the Chiefs pretty much laid down for the Bucks. At this point in the development of teams I usually start to discount chemistry as a factor, but in a close game like the one Kazakhstan just played, it could have been that small disadvantage that cost them the game. The Chiefs haven't looked like they can keep it that close against the more experienced Dragons, simply because of a defense that can't keep opponents out of the end zone. Both teams are hunting for their first win, but it will be the Dragons that come away with it this week.
Warsaw Wolfpack vs Cypriot Freedom: The Wolfpack catch a break this week with an assured win against the Freedom. They need as much help as they can get. Warsaw looks to have the toughest time of all of the EEA4 promotees. They've never proven that they can win a big game, and lost what should have been a very winnable game against House Atreides in week 1. If they can't figure out where the problem is and how to correct it, they won't be able to win more than a few games in this very talented and difficult conference.
Zeta Conference Game of the Week - Macedonian Lions vs Berlin Hounds from Hell: Berlin faces their first true challenge this week against a team that is still riding high from their league championship last season. The Lions shut down the Triforce in their EEA3 rematch, and while their offense is not explosive, they've scored enough to win so far this season. Berlin had little difficulty against the Beersteins, and are so confident about their chances to go all the way this season that they have started a GM signing spree to get trophies for as many agents as possible. The Lions have an opportunity before them, catching the Hounds early in the season while their chemistry is still hurting from signing the Even boys. SCLSU kept it close during week 1, but couldn't get enough going offensively to get the win. The Lions aren't likely to do much better, particularly since they haven't scored many points against teams that aren't nearly as strong as Berlin.
I want to take the opportunity to explain why the previews have been posted only a few hours before the games they are previewing. Last season I was able to post previews and recaps on a daily basis due to not having much going on during a nasty, cold Mid Ohio Valley winter. This past week has been extremely busy both at work and in my personal life. Work-wise, my boss and his wife (who also works with me) had their first baby, so I have been pulling some pretty major hours. On top of that, I just moved last weekend and have been spending time setting up my new situation while cleaning up the old one. Now that I am almost completely done with the move, I will be able to take more time to get these previews out when they are still relevant. Anyway, thanks for the feedback so far, and please keep up the conversation and smack talking.
Jefferson City Bucks vs Bratislava Butchers: After soundly defeating the Chiefs in week 2, the Bucks face their first true challenge of the season as they travel to the Butcher's Block. Bratislava's bend not break defense bent a little too far against the Mates, first allowing a field goal late in the fourth quarter that eventually led to overtime, then the game winning field goal in the first possession of overtime. Jefferson City's Patrick Irish will be head hunting once again this week, although I don't know how he can improve on his 15 sack game against South City. The Butchers will need to shake off their loss and go back on the attack if they want to continue to be counted among the best in the conference.
Czechoslavakia Mates vs Prague Beersteins: Prague has been cursed with a rather unfortunate schedule, facing greatly superior opponents throughout the first half of the season. Czechoslavakia will look to continue their winning start against the poor Beersteins, having proven their quality with the win over the Butchers. Unable to score any touchdowns so far this season, while allowing over 60 points from both opponents, Prague looks to go 0-3 after this week.
Mombasa Wombats vs Maladorous Football Beavers: After a surprising overtime victory over the Dragons, the Wombats get an early season gift with a gimme game against the Stinky Beavers. The victory keeps them in the undefeated category while they look ahead to Hill Valley next week.
Hill Valley Deloreans vs WhatsaMatta U Fighting Elk: These two teams are both coming off of gimme games this week, and both lost in week 1 to their Alpha opponents. So far it is very difficult to determine which is the better of these teams. A look at the rosters shows the Elk with many higher level players than the Deloreans, but the matchup numbers show Hill Valley with distinct advantages. One would almost have to surmise that the Deloreans players have stronger builds for their level than the Elk. Still, in spite of the numbers game, WhatsaMatta U appears to have a better defense than Hill Valley, so I have to call this one for the Elk.
Secretville Offtopics vs Maribor Triforce: The Offtopics finally picked up a win in their new league, but it was against a former EEA4 foe, the Warsaw Wolfpack. So far, the only team that Secretville has played that they weren't already familiar with was the Bengals in the first preseason game, a tough 45-7 loss. The Triforce have been equally troubled, their only win a preseason squeaker versus Vorkuta. While the matchup shows pretty obvious mismatches on both sides, Secretville is known to be a solid group of gameplanners, paying a lot of attention to film and tendencies. The Triforce are a relative unknown to Secretville, and no amount of game film can give as much insight as the experience of playing a team first hand. Maribor will pick up their first win this week.
Kazakhstan Dragons vs South City Chiefs: The Dragons put up a hell of a fight against the Wombats last week, while the Chiefs pretty much laid down for the Bucks. At this point in the development of teams I usually start to discount chemistry as a factor, but in a close game like the one Kazakhstan just played, it could have been that small disadvantage that cost them the game. The Chiefs haven't looked like they can keep it that close against the more experienced Dragons, simply because of a defense that can't keep opponents out of the end zone. Both teams are hunting for their first win, but it will be the Dragons that come away with it this week.
Warsaw Wolfpack vs Cypriot Freedom: The Wolfpack catch a break this week with an assured win against the Freedom. They need as much help as they can get. Warsaw looks to have the toughest time of all of the EEA4 promotees. They've never proven that they can win a big game, and lost what should have been a very winnable game against House Atreides in week 1. If they can't figure out where the problem is and how to correct it, they won't be able to win more than a few games in this very talented and difficult conference.
Zeta Conference Game of the Week - Macedonian Lions vs Berlin Hounds from Hell: Berlin faces their first true challenge this week against a team that is still riding high from their league championship last season. The Lions shut down the Triforce in their EEA3 rematch, and while their offense is not explosive, they've scored enough to win so far this season. Berlin had little difficulty against the Beersteins, and are so confident about their chances to go all the way this season that they have started a GM signing spree to get trophies for as many agents as possible. The Lions have an opportunity before them, catching the Hounds early in the season while their chemistry is still hurting from signing the Even boys. SCLSU kept it close during week 1, but couldn't get enough going offensively to get the win. The Lions aren't likely to do much better, particularly since they haven't scored many points against teams that aren't nearly as strong as Berlin.
I want to take the opportunity to explain why the previews have been posted only a few hours before the games they are previewing. Last season I was able to post previews and recaps on a daily basis due to not having much going on during a nasty, cold Mid Ohio Valley winter. This past week has been extremely busy both at work and in my personal life. Work-wise, my boss and his wife (who also works with me) had their first baby, so I have been pulling some pretty major hours. On top of that, I just moved last weekend and have been spending time setting up my new situation while cleaning up the old one. Now that I am almost completely done with the move, I will be able to take more time to get these previews out when they are still relevant. Anyway, thanks for the feedback so far, and please keep up the conversation and smack talking.
Last edited Mar 1, 2009 00:24:12
