Week 9 is in the books, which means there is only a month left of the regular season. We have a very tight playoff race. There have been 4 teams to claim playoff spots- barring absolute collapses:
X- Norwich City Dragons
X- Gardner Fire Ants
X- Stulls Skulls
X- CDMX Bulldogs
And only one team has been eliminated from the playoffs race:
L- Grant’s Gamblers
The Norwich City Dragons(7-2) continue their dominance with a 125.6 - 119.5 win over Sobey’s Snappin’ Peas(4-5). The lowest output the Dragons have posted is 109, and the Dragons have only scored under 125 twice. The Dragons only play one remaining team above .500, and the rest of their schedule is a combined 16-20. The 1 seed is theirs to lose. The Snappin’ Peas have now lost 4 out of their last 5. However, with the return of Michael Thomas and the emergence of Justin Herbert, they are set to become the first expansion team to make the playoffs ever. Their rest of the schedule is 14-22.
The Wizards(4-5) topped the Gamblers(1-8) 128.1 to 117.5. After adding Stefon Diggs last week in the annual Zard/Fire Ants trade, the Josh Allen + Stefon Diggs stack combined for 56 points- the second-highest stack of the weekend (Hound Pack-Stack). The Wizards continue their comeback after starting 0-4, they’ve now won 4 out of 5 and have posted less than 120 once in that stretch. The Gamblers are officially eliminated, and many are saying it’s karma for missing the draft.
Speaking of teams turning their season around, the Mint Juleps(4-5) cruised to a victory over Sean’s Swans(4-5) 112.7- 67.5. The Juleps have won 3 out of 4, but some folks are speculating that this was the cupcake part of their schedule. The Mint Juleps are 1-2 against teams over .500, and their remaining schedule is a combined 25-11. The Swans 3 game winning streak was ended over the weekend after posting their 4th sub 100 point total. The Swans are finally starting to get a little healthy with Aaron Jones and Miles Sanders, but will it be enough? The Swans remaining schedule has them facing 3 playoff teams if the playoffs started this weekend.
The Fire Ants posted another great performance beating an abysmal Beasts effort 132.5- 61.4 The Fire Ants have posted over 130 in 7 out of their 9 games and are right on the heels of NCD. The remaining Fire Ants schedule is favorable too. They face a combined 12-24 record- with only 2 current playoff teams. The Beasts are slipping. They have now lost a combined 4 out of 5. With Zeke and Mike Evans trending down, the Beasts need things to turn around quickly. The Beasts are tied for the toughest remaining schedule 22-14 which includes 4 current playoff teams. The Beasts went out this week and paid $15 for Duke Johnson- let’s see if David Johnson makes it out of concussion protocol. Otherwise, this could look like a panic move-lite when compared to Swans $35 spend on Matt Brieda last week.
In the most dramatic game of the weekend, and one that if the Jackalopes miss the playoffs they’ll certainly look back on, viva los Bulldogs inched by the Lopes 117.9- 114.9. The game came down to a huge CeeDee Lamb catch in the 4th quarter to take a narrow lead. The CDMX was thrilled to see CMC back on the field and back to CMC posting 37.1, but the return was bittersweet because CMC left the game at the very end with a shoulder injury and is now day-to-day. This win was HUGE for the Bulldogs as it stops a 3 game losing streak and is the first time the Bulldogs have posted over 115 since week 5. The rest of the way for the Bulldogs is a combined 13-23, but they do face a few teams that are trending up. The defending champion Jackalopes have now lost 3 out of 4 and that was supposed to be the easier part of their schedule. The Lopes have lost 3 games this year by less than 4 points. The rest of the way the Lopes is tied with fellow KVO team, Beasts, for the toughest schedule a combined 24-12.
The Hound Dogs(5-4) beat Govalle rival Stull’s Skulls(6-3) 126.4- 70.7 to go back above. 500. The Hound Dogs had a HUGE Thursday night with the pack-stack combining for 62 points. The Hound Dogs feel like this type of performance is indicative of what’s to come the rest of the way. They face a combined 18-18 the rest of the way, but most of those wins belong to NCD- their Egbert Derby rival. The Skulls’ 3 game win streak ended this week with only Russell Wilson and J.D. McKissic scoring double-digits., and this was also the first time the Skulls have scored less than 138 points since week 5. The Skulls get Nick Chubb back this week, and they, too, are poised to jostle for 1st place or higher seeding as they play a 15-21 rest of schedule.
The Jackalopes are projected to be the first defending champion to miss the playoffs the following year since 2017’s Wizards.
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