For those of you wondering what happened to week five's preview, real life got in the way again. I attempted to post late as usual but I tried to do it during the scheduled outage two nights ago, so I couldn't log in. When all else fails, blame Bort.
Week 6 is already upon us, and only one team in the conference remains undefeated, and we have a five way tie for the number two spot. This week will clear up a little bit of that mess as at least one of those teams will drop a game.
Berlin Hounds from Hell vs WhatsaMatta U Fighting Elk: Sitting alone at the top of the standings, Kutzy and his band of Merry GMs are still waiting for a team that can beat them. They will have to wait a little longer since the Elk are just not up to the task. A look at the stats from the Elk's game against Maribor would indicate a game that was much closer than it really was. Big plays and key stops in the first half put the game out of reach for WhatsaMatta U. Berlin, meanwhile, continued their dominant play against the poor Freedom, who have to feel good about at least scoring a few points in what was otherwise a complete rout.
Mombasa Wombats vs Maribor Triforce: The Wombats are hanging in well with the top teams in the conference, showing some success at defeating numerically superior teams. After last week's trouncing of the Warsaw "we wish we had stayed in EEA4" Wolfpack, they face a Maribor team that still has to prove they can beat a top tier team this season. With the toughest part of their schedule coming up, the Triforce need to pick up wins this week and next week to keep their heads above water. The Wombats won't go down easily, but Maribor should come out on top after a hard fought game.
Jefferson City Bucks vs Kazakhstan Dragons: The Dragons picked up a surprising win last week against the Czechoslavakia Mates, a game I surely would have called against them had I done the preview for week five. The win gives Kazakhstan a bit of their respectability back, but the Bucks are poised to knock them back down this week. Jefferson City posted a convincing win against the Beersteins, but so far everyone who has played Prague has put up a convincing win. Team chemistry could hurt Kazakhstan this week, but they will be more affected by their difficulty preventing good opponents from scoring. All told, the Bucks have been more successful in that regard, and for that reason will find success again this week.
South City Chiefs vs Warsaw Wolfpack: At the beginning of the offseason, a thread was posted in the forums asking EEA4 Zeta teams to represent in their new league. It is appropriate that the thread was started by a Butcher, since the three other promotees from the conference are all sitting at 1-4 to start the season. At least one of them will have to win a game this week, since the Chiefs and Wolfpack will face off in an EEA4 rematch. Games like this are extremely difficult to predict an outcome for, since either team is as capable of losing as the other, but in a test of gameplans, I like the Chiefs to win it. They simply have been better at putting points on the board, even when facing dominant opponents.
Secretville Offtopics vs Prague Beersteins: The Offtopics get a chance to improve their record against the 0-5 Beersteins. I usually look at Secretville as being better than their record indicates, most likely because of their relatively consistent excellence against the Butchers. They have a series of evenly matched games ahead of them, so can pick themselves up from the dredges of the conference and start to fight for a place in the postseason. It has to start with Prague, and I can think of no better opponent to start their run against. Unlike the two gimme-game teams, Prague rates evenly with most of the conference, and in spite of their poor start, have the ability to surprise a couple of teams, but they won't put any surprises on the Offtopics. There's a reason they have a little silver trophy on their page. They don't give up games to teams they should beat.
Macedonian Lions vs Cypriot Freedom: The Lions get to continue being a one-loss team this week, taking on Cypriot in their first gimme game of the season. The Lions should stay among the top of the pack until late in the season, when they play their series of games against the top of the conference.
Czechoslavakia Mates vs Maladorous Football Beavers: The Mates started the season strong at 3-0 before dropping two tough games and all the way down to eighth place. An easy win against the Beavers will help them tremendously as they regroup for another difficult opponent next week.
Zeta Conference Game of the Week - Bratislava Butchers vs Hill Valley Deloreans: Once again the Butchers find themselves in the Game of the Week spotlight, not because they are my team, but because these are the only two 4-1 teams playing against each other. These two haven't faced each other since season 6, when the Deloreans helped to keep the Butchers in the bottom playoff tier by defeating Bratislava 23-20 in overtime. This game marks the beginning of a very difficult four game series for Hill Valley, and a win would prove that they can beat a top tier team, which they haven't had to face yet this season. The Butchers have been consistently excellent against the best of the conference, with only an overtime loss to the Mates to mar an otherwise exceptional season. I won't make an "official" prediction, but I truly believe that the Butchers will win this game. Were I impartial, that's how I would call it.
This week should see a little bit of a shakeup within the rankings, but there is still plenty of football to be played. We won't really be able to start counting playoff contenders for a few more weeks, but the likely suspects are beginning to make their collective presence felt. Thanks again to those who read and post in these preview threads, and to those who have IM'ed to show their appreciation as well.
Week 6 is already upon us, and only one team in the conference remains undefeated, and we have a five way tie for the number two spot. This week will clear up a little bit of that mess as at least one of those teams will drop a game.
Berlin Hounds from Hell vs WhatsaMatta U Fighting Elk: Sitting alone at the top of the standings, Kutzy and his band of Merry GMs are still waiting for a team that can beat them. They will have to wait a little longer since the Elk are just not up to the task. A look at the stats from the Elk's game against Maribor would indicate a game that was much closer than it really was. Big plays and key stops in the first half put the game out of reach for WhatsaMatta U. Berlin, meanwhile, continued their dominant play against the poor Freedom, who have to feel good about at least scoring a few points in what was otherwise a complete rout.
Mombasa Wombats vs Maribor Triforce: The Wombats are hanging in well with the top teams in the conference, showing some success at defeating numerically superior teams. After last week's trouncing of the Warsaw "we wish we had stayed in EEA4" Wolfpack, they face a Maribor team that still has to prove they can beat a top tier team this season. With the toughest part of their schedule coming up, the Triforce need to pick up wins this week and next week to keep their heads above water. The Wombats won't go down easily, but Maribor should come out on top after a hard fought game.
Jefferson City Bucks vs Kazakhstan Dragons: The Dragons picked up a surprising win last week against the Czechoslavakia Mates, a game I surely would have called against them had I done the preview for week five. The win gives Kazakhstan a bit of their respectability back, but the Bucks are poised to knock them back down this week. Jefferson City posted a convincing win against the Beersteins, but so far everyone who has played Prague has put up a convincing win. Team chemistry could hurt Kazakhstan this week, but they will be more affected by their difficulty preventing good opponents from scoring. All told, the Bucks have been more successful in that regard, and for that reason will find success again this week.
South City Chiefs vs Warsaw Wolfpack: At the beginning of the offseason, a thread was posted in the forums asking EEA4 Zeta teams to represent in their new league. It is appropriate that the thread was started by a Butcher, since the three other promotees from the conference are all sitting at 1-4 to start the season. At least one of them will have to win a game this week, since the Chiefs and Wolfpack will face off in an EEA4 rematch. Games like this are extremely difficult to predict an outcome for, since either team is as capable of losing as the other, but in a test of gameplans, I like the Chiefs to win it. They simply have been better at putting points on the board, even when facing dominant opponents.
Secretville Offtopics vs Prague Beersteins: The Offtopics get a chance to improve their record against the 0-5 Beersteins. I usually look at Secretville as being better than their record indicates, most likely because of their relatively consistent excellence against the Butchers. They have a series of evenly matched games ahead of them, so can pick themselves up from the dredges of the conference and start to fight for a place in the postseason. It has to start with Prague, and I can think of no better opponent to start their run against. Unlike the two gimme-game teams, Prague rates evenly with most of the conference, and in spite of their poor start, have the ability to surprise a couple of teams, but they won't put any surprises on the Offtopics. There's a reason they have a little silver trophy on their page. They don't give up games to teams they should beat.
Macedonian Lions vs Cypriot Freedom: The Lions get to continue being a one-loss team this week, taking on Cypriot in their first gimme game of the season. The Lions should stay among the top of the pack until late in the season, when they play their series of games against the top of the conference.
Czechoslavakia Mates vs Maladorous Football Beavers: The Mates started the season strong at 3-0 before dropping two tough games and all the way down to eighth place. An easy win against the Beavers will help them tremendously as they regroup for another difficult opponent next week.
Zeta Conference Game of the Week - Bratislava Butchers vs Hill Valley Deloreans: Once again the Butchers find themselves in the Game of the Week spotlight, not because they are my team, but because these are the only two 4-1 teams playing against each other. These two haven't faced each other since season 6, when the Deloreans helped to keep the Butchers in the bottom playoff tier by defeating Bratislava 23-20 in overtime. This game marks the beginning of a very difficult four game series for Hill Valley, and a win would prove that they can beat a top tier team, which they haven't had to face yet this season. The Butchers have been consistently excellent against the best of the conference, with only an overtime loss to the Mates to mar an otherwise exceptional season. I won't make an "official" prediction, but I truly believe that the Butchers will win this game. Were I impartial, that's how I would call it.
This week should see a little bit of a shakeup within the rankings, but there is still plenty of football to be played. We won't really be able to start counting playoff contenders for a few more weeks, but the likely suspects are beginning to make their collective presence felt. Thanks again to those who read and post in these preview threads, and to those who have IM'ed to show their appreciation as well.
Last edited Mar 6, 2009 19:41:41
