Missed a bunch of interesting match ups over the weekend, but I'm back at it.
Morocco Camels 11-1 @ Sahara Sandstorm 2-10
Sahara actually gave the Rumblers a bit of a game last week with some late points, but the game really wasn't as close as the score. The Camels sim luck finally caught up with them and I'm betting that they're glad it did as it's hard to have it happen in the playoffs. A great season so far and 3 big games still to go for them...this isn't one of them.
Camels 76 Sandstorm 10
Serengeti Wildebeest 2-10 @ Mogadishu Malice 10-2
Wow, the boys from Mogadishu have to be proud. They've gone 6-0 against the teams currently holding playoff spots and with the Camels remaining schedule, have a legitimate shot at the #1 seed. Simply unbelievable for a team that was 1 tie-breaker away from elimination two seasons ago. They are definitely legit, but something tells me that they won't run the table in the playoffs and that whoever gets that match up in the first round might not be so terribly upset. That said, Malice have a huge game with the Saints next week and both of those teams should win the rest of their games and be home playoff teams. Wildebeest fought their way into another season of AAA, but will probably have that taken from them by league restructuring as they are most certainly a flagged team.
Malice 76 Wildebeest 7
San Dimas Saints 9-3 @ Mozambique Thundercats 5-7
Thundercats find themselves still mathematically in the playoff hunt, but with a 3 game deficit to the 8th spot and no tiebreakers over any of them, they have to win all 4 remaining games and have one of those teams lose all 4, plus the two teams above them lose a couple games. That's just not going to happen. They should start planning for next season, but would love to pull off a marquee win or two on their way out the door. The Saints have had another great season and appear to be on their way to another home playoff game. They have to be weary of Mozambique, but I don't expect them to trip up. Mozambique couldn't move the ball on San Dimas at all last season in a 17-6 loss. I expect more of the same.
Saints 24 Thundercats 10
GOTW 1*High Plains Drifters 9-3 @ Kilimanjaro Sno Caps 6-6
An interesting match up here. The Drifters currently hold a home playoff spot, but with 4 tough games still on the schedule including two against teams looming at 8-4, they will have to fight to keep it. The Sno Caps are clinging to playoff hopes that are quickly fading away. In a very tight conference, they do still have a chance, but they'll have to pull some upsets. This is a very solid team that has struggled to be as dominating in the running game and is starting to pass the ball more. Against us, they had some success, but two INTs returned for TDs did them in. The Drifters have had some interesting results this season and it's still hard to get a read on them. They definitely have the most dangerous receiver in the league and with the Sno Caps giving up a decent chunk of yards in the air this season, their usually stingy defense will struggle to completely shut down High Plains. The Drifters also get a ton of pressure on the QB and the Sno Caps have proven susceptible to this in their few drop backs to pass this season. In the end, this makes is impossible for the Sno Caps to sustain a drive in the air and may need them to rely on their grind it out running game to succeed. This method has proven feasible against the Drifters as the Malice simply used this strategy to control the clock, keep their defense fresh, and ultimately control the game. For the Sno Caps to succeed, they'll have to be as good as at shoving the ball down the throat of High Plains as Mogadishu was. The biggest difference is that High Plains will probably see it coming here. In the end, I think the match ups just favor the Drifters a little too much and the Sno Caps need to get their OLine and their entire offense more balanced before they'll be a playoff team in AAA.
Drifters 27 Sno Caps 13
Kampala Kerels 0-10 @ Gold Coast Corsairs 8-4
GC is on a roll and looking to avenge one of their 3 losses last season to teams still in AAA Elephant next week against the Beavers. They're 1-1 against teams they lost to last season so far this season and are in the 2nd week of the 2 week yawn-fest everyone gets before they face us. Maybe it will lull them into complacency.
Corsairs 96 Kerels 0
GOTW 2*Kinshasa Rumblers 7-5 @ Los Angeles eXtreme 8-4
Another interesting match up. This may be the Rumblers last chance to gain an advantage in the playoff race. If they lose here and the other 8-4 teams would only have 1 loss, they'll effectively be 2 games behind GC and the loser of the Eaton-River Styx game, and 3 games behind LAX and the winner of the Eaton-Styx game with 3 games to go. That would all but spell the end to their hopes for this season. That said, LAX has had an up and down season. With only a 2-4 record against current playoff teams, and the Camels and Knight Riders still on their schedule, losing this game could very well mean that they would be left out of the playoffs. That would be a HUGE disappointment for one of the perennial powerhouses in our conference. The match ups are hard to read. Both teams like to throw the ball and it's led to a ton of QB pressures against them. The biggest difference is that LAX can get pressure on the QB and Kinshasa cannot. With only 6 sacks on the season with 4 coming against The ALL, that means that they're averaging less than .2 sacks a game in the rest of their games. With those kinds of numbers against Nick Fiorentino, he'll pick you apart. Expect a lot of passing in this game with the Rumblers only chance being if they get some turnovers and avoid them.
eXtreme 31 Rumblers 20
GOTW 3*Eaton Beavers 8-4 @ River Styx Jinx 8-4
Games at this point in the season are so big and I think this will be about two teams attempt to impose their game play style on the other. Last season the Jinx offense did an impressive job against us after being shut out and held to 100 yards in season 3. Of course, these two teams have come a long way since then and know how critical this game is to playoff seeding. Winner all but clinches a playoff spot with a chance at a home playoff game, while the loser hopes to cling to the #8 seed. GL Jinx!
The ALL 0-12 @ African Killer Bees 3-9
The Bees put up a fight against the Saints and the game was much closer than the score would tell you. Hopefully this is a sign that the Bees will be ready for next season after some difficulties this season. With 3 winnable games in a row, they'd like to at the very least get those wins to recover some fan support lost. They'll start here.
Bees 72 ALL 0
Morocco Camels 11-1 @ Sahara Sandstorm 2-10
Sahara actually gave the Rumblers a bit of a game last week with some late points, but the game really wasn't as close as the score. The Camels sim luck finally caught up with them and I'm betting that they're glad it did as it's hard to have it happen in the playoffs. A great season so far and 3 big games still to go for them...this isn't one of them.
Camels 76 Sandstorm 10
Serengeti Wildebeest 2-10 @ Mogadishu Malice 10-2
Wow, the boys from Mogadishu have to be proud. They've gone 6-0 against the teams currently holding playoff spots and with the Camels remaining schedule, have a legitimate shot at the #1 seed. Simply unbelievable for a team that was 1 tie-breaker away from elimination two seasons ago. They are definitely legit, but something tells me that they won't run the table in the playoffs and that whoever gets that match up in the first round might not be so terribly upset. That said, Malice have a huge game with the Saints next week and both of those teams should win the rest of their games and be home playoff teams. Wildebeest fought their way into another season of AAA, but will probably have that taken from them by league restructuring as they are most certainly a flagged team.
Malice 76 Wildebeest 7
San Dimas Saints 9-3 @ Mozambique Thundercats 5-7
Thundercats find themselves still mathematically in the playoff hunt, but with a 3 game deficit to the 8th spot and no tiebreakers over any of them, they have to win all 4 remaining games and have one of those teams lose all 4, plus the two teams above them lose a couple games. That's just not going to happen. They should start planning for next season, but would love to pull off a marquee win or two on their way out the door. The Saints have had another great season and appear to be on their way to another home playoff game. They have to be weary of Mozambique, but I don't expect them to trip up. Mozambique couldn't move the ball on San Dimas at all last season in a 17-6 loss. I expect more of the same.
Saints 24 Thundercats 10
GOTW 1*High Plains Drifters 9-3 @ Kilimanjaro Sno Caps 6-6
An interesting match up here. The Drifters currently hold a home playoff spot, but with 4 tough games still on the schedule including two against teams looming at 8-4, they will have to fight to keep it. The Sno Caps are clinging to playoff hopes that are quickly fading away. In a very tight conference, they do still have a chance, but they'll have to pull some upsets. This is a very solid team that has struggled to be as dominating in the running game and is starting to pass the ball more. Against us, they had some success, but two INTs returned for TDs did them in. The Drifters have had some interesting results this season and it's still hard to get a read on them. They definitely have the most dangerous receiver in the league and with the Sno Caps giving up a decent chunk of yards in the air this season, their usually stingy defense will struggle to completely shut down High Plains. The Drifters also get a ton of pressure on the QB and the Sno Caps have proven susceptible to this in their few drop backs to pass this season. In the end, this makes is impossible for the Sno Caps to sustain a drive in the air and may need them to rely on their grind it out running game to succeed. This method has proven feasible against the Drifters as the Malice simply used this strategy to control the clock, keep their defense fresh, and ultimately control the game. For the Sno Caps to succeed, they'll have to be as good as at shoving the ball down the throat of High Plains as Mogadishu was. The biggest difference is that High Plains will probably see it coming here. In the end, I think the match ups just favor the Drifters a little too much and the Sno Caps need to get their OLine and their entire offense more balanced before they'll be a playoff team in AAA.
Drifters 27 Sno Caps 13
Kampala Kerels 0-10 @ Gold Coast Corsairs 8-4
GC is on a roll and looking to avenge one of their 3 losses last season to teams still in AAA Elephant next week against the Beavers. They're 1-1 against teams they lost to last season so far this season and are in the 2nd week of the 2 week yawn-fest everyone gets before they face us. Maybe it will lull them into complacency.
Corsairs 96 Kerels 0
GOTW 2*Kinshasa Rumblers 7-5 @ Los Angeles eXtreme 8-4
Another interesting match up. This may be the Rumblers last chance to gain an advantage in the playoff race. If they lose here and the other 8-4 teams would only have 1 loss, they'll effectively be 2 games behind GC and the loser of the Eaton-River Styx game, and 3 games behind LAX and the winner of the Eaton-Styx game with 3 games to go. That would all but spell the end to their hopes for this season. That said, LAX has had an up and down season. With only a 2-4 record against current playoff teams, and the Camels and Knight Riders still on their schedule, losing this game could very well mean that they would be left out of the playoffs. That would be a HUGE disappointment for one of the perennial powerhouses in our conference. The match ups are hard to read. Both teams like to throw the ball and it's led to a ton of QB pressures against them. The biggest difference is that LAX can get pressure on the QB and Kinshasa cannot. With only 6 sacks on the season with 4 coming against The ALL, that means that they're averaging less than .2 sacks a game in the rest of their games. With those kinds of numbers against Nick Fiorentino, he'll pick you apart. Expect a lot of passing in this game with the Rumblers only chance being if they get some turnovers and avoid them.
eXtreme 31 Rumblers 20
GOTW 3*Eaton Beavers 8-4 @ River Styx Jinx 8-4
Games at this point in the season are so big and I think this will be about two teams attempt to impose their game play style on the other. Last season the Jinx offense did an impressive job against us after being shut out and held to 100 yards in season 3. Of course, these two teams have come a long way since then and know how critical this game is to playoff seeding. Winner all but clinches a playoff spot with a chance at a home playoff game, while the loser hopes to cling to the #8 seed. GL Jinx!
The ALL 0-12 @ African Killer Bees 3-9
The Bees put up a fight against the Saints and the game was much closer than the score would tell you. Hopefully this is a sign that the Bees will be ready for next season after some difficulties this season. With 3 winnable games in a row, they'd like to at the very least get those wins to recover some fan support lost. They'll start here.
Bees 72 ALL 0
