Looking over at the DSFL, Week 13 has the Norfolk Seawolves traveling to London to face the Royals. Currently, the Royals have the best record in the DSFL at 6-1 while the Seawolves lead the South with a record of 4-2-1. This has the possibility of being a preview of the upcoming DSFL Championship Game. The Seawolves could also be showcased in Prime Time in week 12 when they travel to Dallas to face the Birddogs. Dallas is just a game behind Norfolk in the standings and their first meeting of the season ended in a 28-28 tie. Week 14 has the Minnesota Grey Ducks visiting the Portland Pythons. This game could determine who gets the second playoff spot in the North behind London. In Week 9, we have the Bondi Beach Buccaneers traveling to Dallas. The Buccaneers are only a half a game behind Dallas for second place in the South standings. Every one of these games has playoff implications and deserves a look as a Prime Time Game.
Looking into the ISFL for one of these finally, the game that you need to highlight, move into primetime, and probably setup a whole stage for, is the week 16 battle between the Baltimore Hawks and the New Orleans Secondline.
Both teams are currently leading their division, although the Baltimore team is tied with Yellowknife from a strictly win/loss perspective and only takes the lead on tie breakers. Both teams have an almost identical amount of points scored so far (275 vs 274) and Baltimore has the slight edge in points allowed (205 vs 228). Given the identical records and points scored, this game looks to be a nailbiter in waiting for both fanbases. The real question will be how the defenses hold up. Baltimore's points allowed seems to give them the edge, but it might not tell the entire story. The NSFC has scored an average of 224.16 points so far this season. Meanwhile, the ASFC is scoring an average of 227.6. That difference may feel slight, but it means that New Orleans has faced slightly stronger offenses to this point, which could be partially inflating their points allowed in comparison. Given Baltimore and Yellowknife don't play each other anymore this season, this game will have playoff implications for the NSFC, and being the last game of the season, it really adds to the pressure both teams will be feeling about getting their teams in top form heading into the playoffs.
Unfortunately, Orange County has a lot of ground to make up if they want to fight for a playoff spot. There are two games on the rest of the Otters' schedule that could be very important, for completely different reasons. First, if the Otters are going to challenge for the playoffs, they are going to need a lot of luck, which means a lot of teams above them losing. If this happens, the game against the New York Silverbacks will be of a high importance. This is a team that the Otters originally lost to, therefore gaining a head-to-head advantage over them would be massive. For tiebreaking purposes, it would need to be a huge win. This is an unlikely series of events, however. The other important matchup could be the very last week of the season, when the Otters face Honolulu. This final matchup may not matter for playoffs, but it will determine draft pick order. Some Otters fans might even be cheering for the Otters to lose this game just to improve their draft seeding, considering the game is otherwise meaningless to win. There's a lot of games left to play though, so we'll see how this season shakes out.
Losing their last two has hurt the Kaiju’s playoff chances. There is a logjam of talented teams ahead of them competing for a playoff spot. Osaka has the blessing and curse of getting to face 3 out of 4 of them as the season wraps up. They achieved their split with Cape Town, soon they will get the chance for revenge on road losses to Baltimore and the Wraiths this time at home.
The first game I’d like to highlight is that matchup against Yellowknife. Osaka was embarrassed 36 to nothing that game, and the loss had them reeling so much they lost their next game to the wobbling Otters. They will need to set things right in their home leg in week 14. Not just win but show the dominance they’ve been able to muster from time to time that proves the Kaiju are a playoff threat. Strong defense and solid offense is the recipe. And if they get their head right in that game they should be well positioned to take on the Sailfish the following week, this time in Sarasota. The same way a loss to Yellowknife set them reeling, hopefully a win this time gets them locked in for the remainder of the playoff push. I don’t want to put all the pressure on our young QB, but of course they will need to play competently for the Kaiju to win. The focus should be on the defense of which Juan is now a part. They need to be dominant. Impose their will on the opposition to give the Kaiju a chance to win. Code: 268 words
08-05-2024, 12:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 08-05-2024, 12:59 PM by kdr. Edited 1 time in total.)
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