Tier 1 - 1
As the season draws to a close, there are a few surprises regarding the playoff picture. I don’t think Berlin was expected to take control of the league with a 13-3 record. Nobody expected Austin to fall flat with a 5-10-1 record to finish out the year. Last season’s Ultimus winners even fell out of the playoffs entirely! So let’s see how each team made it into the playoffs. The New Orleans Second Line manage to squeeze into the playoffs with a 9-7 record, the worst team to make it in. Their arrival was rather unexpected, as after week 10 they had a 4-6 record and were on the outside looking in. They managed to turn it around however, winning 5 of their next 6 and clinching a playoff spot in week 16 after the Silverbacks win against Orange County. A 4000 yard season for their quarterback and a 1000 yard season for their running back make them a threat, but their inconsistent play and middle of the road defense will likely be their downfall. Sticking with the ASFC, The New York Silverbacks head into the playoffs with a respectable 10-6 record. In the middle of the season, they went on a 6 game win streak, but have been rather inconsistent since then. Losses to San Jose, Philadelphia, and Honolulu make their playoff hopes seem dashed already. They do have quality wins however, like a tight week 2 win against New Orleans, and a 33-20 win over Arizona. With Sam Howitzer having his best year to date, and Captain Rogers leading the offense in spectacular fashion, it will be interesting to see how far New York will go in the playoffs. Let’s not forget that New York boasts a defense consisting of top players like Jack Banks and Bob Roberts. If they can just find some consistency, they could go very far. The top team in the ASFC, the Arizona Outlaws, seem to be on the fast track to an Ultimus. Undefeated through the first 5 games, they hit the ground running and never seemed to slow down. They would eventually lose, but after that they got right back to winning. They ended the season with 3 straight wins to clinch the conference and get a first round bye while New York and New Orleans battle it out in the wildcard round. Charlemagne Cortez threw for almost 5000 yards. Tatsu Nakamura ran for over 1500. This team is stacked on offense, but their defense might raise some concern. Only allowing less than 10 points in one regular season game, if they end up losing in the playoffs it will likely be due to their defense. Moving over to the NSFC, we have the 3rd seed Sarasota Sailfish. A couple seasons removed from an unexpected Ultimus win, they hope to recapture that magic and sneak their way in once more. A six game win streak early in the year proves they can light up the scoreboard if they want to, but close losses against Orange County, New York and Berlin took part in them only getting a wildcard spot. They’ll be playing on the road against the Colorado Yeti. Something a lot of these playoff teams have in common is large win streaks, and Colorado is no different. Winning seven in a row near the end of the season, Colorado will hope to build upon that momentum and capture an Ultimus. Mattathias Caliban threw for over 5700 yards and 24 touchdowns in this pass happy offense, but he needs to keep an eye on his interception total. They live by the pass, but if they’re not careful they will die by the pass. Last but not least is the 13-3 Berlin Fire Salamanders. They went on a monstrous eight game win streak to close out the season. It could have even been a 13 game win streak had they not lost by just one point to New Orleans. It is going to take a lot to beat the kings of the ISFL. A quarterback who throws for almost 5000 yards and 39 touchdowns, a running back who picks up 1200 yards and 13 touchdowns and a receiver who gets 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns. This is an incredibly hard to beat team, and it will take the kitchen sink and then some to beat them. So those are all of the playoff teams. Now the big question is who is gonna win the coveted Ultimus? The favorite is probably Berlin with their unmatched offense, but the playoffs are all about expecting the unexpected. Who knows, maybe New Orleans could win it. But one thing is for sure, and that’s the Ultimus is a special time for the landscape of the ISFL, and whoever wins it will go down in the history books.
As the season draws to a close, there are a few surprises regarding the playoff picture. I don’t think Berlin was expected to take control of the league with a 13-3 record. Nobody expected Austin to fall flat with a 5-10-1 record to finish out the year. Last season’s Ultimus winners even fell out of the playoffs entirely! So let’s see how each team made it into the playoffs. The New Orleans Second Line manage to squeeze into the playoffs with a 9-7 record, the worst team to make it in. Their arrival was rather unexpected, as after week 10 they had a 4-6 record and were on the outside looking in. They managed to turn it around however, winning 5 of their next 6 and clinching a playoff spot in week 16 after the Silverbacks win against Orange County. A 4000 yard season for their quarterback and a 1000 yard season for their running back make them a threat, but their inconsistent play and middle of the road defense will likely be their downfall. Sticking with the ASFC, The New York Silverbacks head into the playoffs with a respectable 10-6 record. In the middle of the season, they went on a 6 game win streak, but have been rather inconsistent since then. Losses to San Jose, Philadelphia, and Honolulu make their playoff hopes seem dashed already. They do have quality wins however, like a tight week 2 win against New Orleans, and a 33-20 win over Arizona. With Sam Howitzer having his best year to date, and Captain Rogers leading the offense in spectacular fashion, it will be interesting to see how far New York will go in the playoffs. Let’s not forget that New York boasts a defense consisting of top players like Jack Banks and Bob Roberts. If they can just find some consistency, they could go very far. The top team in the ASFC, the Arizona Outlaws, seem to be on the fast track to an Ultimus. Undefeated through the first 5 games, they hit the ground running and never seemed to slow down. They would eventually lose, but after that they got right back to winning. They ended the season with 3 straight wins to clinch the conference and get a first round bye while New York and New Orleans battle it out in the wildcard round. Charlemagne Cortez threw for almost 5000 yards. Tatsu Nakamura ran for over 1500. This team is stacked on offense, but their defense might raise some concern. Only allowing less than 10 points in one regular season game, if they end up losing in the playoffs it will likely be due to their defense. Moving over to the NSFC, we have the 3rd seed Sarasota Sailfish. A couple seasons removed from an unexpected Ultimus win, they hope to recapture that magic and sneak their way in once more. A six game win streak early in the year proves they can light up the scoreboard if they want to, but close losses against Orange County, New York and Berlin took part in them only getting a wildcard spot. They’ll be playing on the road against the Colorado Yeti. Something a lot of these playoff teams have in common is large win streaks, and Colorado is no different. Winning seven in a row near the end of the season, Colorado will hope to build upon that momentum and capture an Ultimus. Mattathias Caliban threw for over 5700 yards and 24 touchdowns in this pass happy offense, but he needs to keep an eye on his interception total. They live by the pass, but if they’re not careful they will die by the pass. Last but not least is the 13-3 Berlin Fire Salamanders. They went on a monstrous eight game win streak to close out the season. It could have even been a 13 game win streak had they not lost by just one point to New Orleans. It is going to take a lot to beat the kings of the ISFL. A quarterback who throws for almost 5000 yards and 39 touchdowns, a running back who picks up 1200 yards and 13 touchdowns and a receiver who gets 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns. This is an incredibly hard to beat team, and it will take the kitchen sink and then some to beat them. So those are all of the playoff teams. Now the big question is who is gonna win the coveted Ultimus? The favorite is probably Berlin with their unmatched offense, but the playoffs are all about expecting the unexpected. Who knows, maybe New Orleans could win it. But one thing is for sure, and that’s the Ultimus is a special time for the landscape of the ISFL, and whoever wins it will go down in the history books.