Realized I'm off of work until Tuesday so I slapped these together real fast. I probably won't be around to handle the 2nd round but if I can slip on for a few minutes I will.
Not much to say really about the first round. Each conference seemed to wrap up with 4 dominating teams and then 4 teams that will make it tough for the bottom 4 seeds to advance so on with the show.
Good luck to all the playoff teams!
WESTERN
1 South Georgia Growl vs 8 Newfoundland Penguins
Our first match-up features the #2 ranked O and D in the conference facing a Penguins squad that made it to the dance despite having a losing record. In the week 8 match-up the Growl took the game over early and finished up with a 37-16 win. I like to throw an upset pick into the mix here and there though and this is definitely not where I'll be wasting that pick. I see SGG taking this one by a much larger margin this time around.
2 American Terrorists vs 7 Canton Bulldogs
AT features the #1 rushing offense in the West and Canton will try to slow them down with their 6th ranked run D but I don't see it happening. I can easily see AT making a run at the title this season and I can't say the same for the Bulldogs. When these teams last faced off the Terrorists won 51-18 thanks to a 34 point second half. I see a similar outcome this time around as the Bulldogs won't be able to slow them down for 4 quarters.
3 Monmouth Evil Monkeys vs 6 5th Masterminds
The Masterminds have been playing some great ball lately and they'll have to contend with the West's #1 ranked D in the first round. The last time they played was just 2 weeks ago and MEM got away with a 4 point win. The big question heading in to this game for me is how much effort MEM and SGG put in the last games. The Masterminds performance in those 2 games made them look damn good and if it was due to a lack of effort on their opponents parts than this one could get ugly. I don't see that being the case though and while this one has upset written all over it I'm going to stick with the Monkeys to win this one by a slightly larger margin.
4 Tulsa Storm vs 5 Vancouver Lions
This one is a big rematch from last weeks game that really didn't matter. Personally, I was more impressed with the Lions earlier in the season than I was by the latter half of the season. Tulsa's 3 losses this season all came at the hands of some damn good teams too. The Lions finished the season with the #1 passing O and that might be an area they want to exploit with Tulsa's passing D finishing up ranked 11th. I'm taking this as my upset pick of the week with the Lions squeaking out a narrow win.
EASTERN
1 South Otto Fragile Porcelain Mice vs 8 Oakland Suppressors
Two weeks ago the Mice downed Oakland 46-9. This time around I see only two possible outcomes. The Mice run the same scaled back attack and do the same again. Or the Mice put time into it and things get really ugly. Mice win by a substantial margin.
2 All The King's Men vs 7 Gulf Coast Crocs
If there's one thing the Crocs like to do it's run the rock. Can they do that more effectively this time around against ATKM? Last time they finished up averaging a so-so 3.1 ypc and if they can't get some type of pass attack to go along with their run game the one dimensional offense could hurt this team's chances. I like the Crocs, just not to win this game. But this was close to being my upset of the week.
3 Black Ops 7 vs 6 Punxsutawney Groundhogs
In another match-up of a week 16 game, the Groundhogs will try to knock off BO7. The only way that happens is if they get an offense that gained a paltry 108 total yards last week to move the ball and keep BO off the field. It wasn't pretty last week...and I'm guessing it will be uglier this time around. BO should win big.
4 College Station Aggies vs 5 Las Vegas Diggers
Following a trend from some of the other 1st round match-ups, we're pitting youth against experience here and the Diggers come into this game heavy on youth. I see the Diggers contending in the future but this season it's not likely they make it past this game after a week 14 drubbing at the hands of the Aggies.
Not much to say really about the first round. Each conference seemed to wrap up with 4 dominating teams and then 4 teams that will make it tough for the bottom 4 seeds to advance so on with the show.
Good luck to all the playoff teams!
WESTERN
1 South Georgia Growl vs 8 Newfoundland Penguins
Our first match-up features the #2 ranked O and D in the conference facing a Penguins squad that made it to the dance despite having a losing record. In the week 8 match-up the Growl took the game over early and finished up with a 37-16 win. I like to throw an upset pick into the mix here and there though and this is definitely not where I'll be wasting that pick. I see SGG taking this one by a much larger margin this time around.
2 American Terrorists vs 7 Canton Bulldogs
AT features the #1 rushing offense in the West and Canton will try to slow them down with their 6th ranked run D but I don't see it happening. I can easily see AT making a run at the title this season and I can't say the same for the Bulldogs. When these teams last faced off the Terrorists won 51-18 thanks to a 34 point second half. I see a similar outcome this time around as the Bulldogs won't be able to slow them down for 4 quarters.
3 Monmouth Evil Monkeys vs 6 5th Masterminds
The Masterminds have been playing some great ball lately and they'll have to contend with the West's #1 ranked D in the first round. The last time they played was just 2 weeks ago and MEM got away with a 4 point win. The big question heading in to this game for me is how much effort MEM and SGG put in the last games. The Masterminds performance in those 2 games made them look damn good and if it was due to a lack of effort on their opponents parts than this one could get ugly. I don't see that being the case though and while this one has upset written all over it I'm going to stick with the Monkeys to win this one by a slightly larger margin.
4 Tulsa Storm vs 5 Vancouver Lions
This one is a big rematch from last weeks game that really didn't matter. Personally, I was more impressed with the Lions earlier in the season than I was by the latter half of the season. Tulsa's 3 losses this season all came at the hands of some damn good teams too. The Lions finished the season with the #1 passing O and that might be an area they want to exploit with Tulsa's passing D finishing up ranked 11th. I'm taking this as my upset pick of the week with the Lions squeaking out a narrow win.
EASTERN
1 South Otto Fragile Porcelain Mice vs 8 Oakland Suppressors
Two weeks ago the Mice downed Oakland 46-9. This time around I see only two possible outcomes. The Mice run the same scaled back attack and do the same again. Or the Mice put time into it and things get really ugly. Mice win by a substantial margin.
2 All The King's Men vs 7 Gulf Coast Crocs
If there's one thing the Crocs like to do it's run the rock. Can they do that more effectively this time around against ATKM? Last time they finished up averaging a so-so 3.1 ypc and if they can't get some type of pass attack to go along with their run game the one dimensional offense could hurt this team's chances. I like the Crocs, just not to win this game. But this was close to being my upset of the week.
3 Black Ops 7 vs 6 Punxsutawney Groundhogs
In another match-up of a week 16 game, the Groundhogs will try to knock off BO7. The only way that happens is if they get an offense that gained a paltry 108 total yards last week to move the ball and keep BO off the field. It wasn't pretty last week...and I'm guessing it will be uglier this time around. BO should win big.
4 College Station Aggies vs 5 Las Vegas Diggers
Following a trend from some of the other 1st round match-ups, we're pitting youth against experience here and the Diggers come into this game heavy on youth. I see the Diggers contending in the future but this season it's not likely they make it past this game after a week 14 drubbing at the hands of the Aggies.
