AFFL2022 Wk7 Recap: Italy with another 200 point day; breakers Sink Showboats
Week 7 Highlight Game
Italian Wranglers at B.C. Blitz 210 – 180
In a game that was as exciting as expected and closer than Vegas predicted, the Wranglers came out of it with the win they desperately needed to keep the tiebreakers even with British Columbia. Despite bye week issues and their offensive captain Russel Wilson stuck on IR, the Wranglers still managed to look unstoppable, scoring 83 on offense, 92 on defense and even excelled on special teams where they posted 35. The 210 point win is their 6th 200 plus point game and they look just about unstoppable, with B.C. being the only team to have beaten them this year in the first meeting. The Blitz had bye week issues of their own, including MVP candidate Jalen Hurts and a couple of key defenders. Still, the Canadians almost rose to the challenge, with Christian McCaffery leading a wildcat offense that totaled 74 points, and they bested Italy on defense by a point, scoring 93 points, led by safety Jonathon Owens’ 30 points. Now 5-2, both of their losses are division losses, so the Blitz will have to hope for the Wranglers to make a mistake.
Around The League
Winston-Salem Express at Prince George Generals 200 – 150
The Express offense continues to roll like a runaway train, putting up 104 offensive points in this 200 point win. Known for their single wing formation, Winston-Salem brought QB Tagovaila back into the mix this week and he contributed 17 points to the effort, but their backs continued to be the star of this turf show, with Ekeler and Ettienne scoring 64 points between them. Bad news on Winston-Salem’s freshman wingback Breece Hall, though, as he tore his ACL and will be done for the season after racking up an impressive 134 points through 7 games of his rookie campaign. With four straight outings with 100 points or more scored on offense, Winston-Salem also has 3 straight wins of 193 points or more. After a slow start, the Express now controls the Landry Division with a 5-2 record and a 2 game sweep of Prince George who may be in trouble, after turning 151 points or less in 3 games over the last 4 weeks. Ja’Marr Chase’s 42 points led the offense who only totaled 61 points, with the defense not much better at 75 total. Prince George’s 60 points on the bench won’t make fans any happier. The Express win gives them full control of the Landry Division, and with Bicton’s recent surging play, second place feels tenuous for the Generals, as well. Prince George gets the Bandits next week, but must follow that with back to back games against the Wranglers and Blitz. Winston-Salem gets another tough one next week against San Quintin, and then must face the Stars who have been on fire recently.
Grand Strand Gunslingers at Sleeperville Outlaws 145 – 97
The Gunslingers managed to do just enough to make it out of Outlaw Stadium with a win, but not much more. QB Justin Fields led their offense to a mediocre 72 point day with 33 points of his own, while their defense managed just 46 points in the win, led by Jonathon Abram’s 20 points. It was Grand Strand’s third game of 145 points or less this season, but they remain in good position with their 4-3 record and a softer second half schedule than the first place Gold who own the tiebreaker with the Gunslingers. Sleeperville fans are officially in panic mode after the Outlaws post another stinker, failing to reach even a hundred points in what should’ve been a winnable game. After starting the season undefeated, Sleeperville has posted scores of 129, 140, and now just 97 points in their last 3 games; they’ve fallen from a position of full control over the Paul Brown Division to 3rd place, and worse, they’ve now lost both head to head tiebreakers vs their geographic rival Grand Strand.
Bicton Breakers at San Quintin Showboats 242 – 200
Two weeks ago, San Quintin’s RB Josh Jacobs scored 46 points in garbage time on Monday night in a game already won; this week, they needed back David Montgomery to post 59 to enable a game-saving comeback……his 17 points didn’t even come close and the Showboats lose despite a valiant 200 point effort. Jacobs paced the offense again this week, posting 52 of the offense’s 104 point total. Despite the loss, thanks to Tampa’s meltdown this week and a head to head win over them, San Quintin remains in control of the Halas Division for now. They’ve posted totals of 191, 246, 226, and 200 in the last 4 weeks, and will need to keep that pace next week against the Express. After activating Kenneth Walker III at RB from their practice squad 2 weeks ago, he’s now scored 74 points for the Breakers, including 50 week 7 points as he led the offense to 140 points. Bicton’s 242 point total was just one point shy of their week 6 score, and if you count a week 3 outing of 196, now have 4 of 7, 200 plus point games, including 500 points scored in the last 2 weeks. With a 4-3 record and a 2 win sweep of the Express in their back pocket, the Breakers have quietly put themselves into position to vie for control of the Landry Division.
SoCal Gold at Guatemala City Stars 197 – 234
The Guatemala City Stars are on fire, scoring over a hundred on offense in two of the last three weeks with 117 in week 5 and now 138 points against SoCal. Their young offensive captain, Daniel Jones posted 54 points for Guatemala and rushed for over a hundred yards. Jones finds himself in the unlikely position of being the league’s 6th highest scorer, and the Stars are hoping that’s a good sign for his future with the franchise. After a very shaky start, the freshman Stars franchise has climbed into respectability with a 3-4 record and an upset over a strong SoCal squad. A frustrating loss for the Gold, scoring almost 200 but walking away without the W. They remain in excellent position at the season’s halfway mark, however with a 4-3 record, including a sweep of Grand Strand, and remain the #2 scoring team in the league. Their schedule down the back straight, though, has them facing the Federals, then Maulers, Gamblers, Generals, and Wranglers over the next 5 weeks before finishing up against the league-sponsored Bandits – who beat them in week 3 – and then Sleeperville in a season finale that will likely impact playoff seeding, so the fantasy gods are going to make them work for it.
Tampa Bay Renegades at Pittsburgh Maulers 92 – 147
With bye weeks spread throughout the roster, Tampa Bay did what they could, but that wasn’t much. They did get 25 points of production from Gameday Pick-Up D’onta Foreman, so that was a bright spot for fans. Tampa couldn’t have picked a better week to have bye week issues, with San Quintin and Tracy both suffering losses to keep the Renegades near the top of the Halas Division. The Maulers manage to steal one on their way to 3-4 after their second lowest performance all season. It’s been a frustrating season for Pittsburgh who now ranks 17th in the standings and 19th in the league in total scoring after starting the season as one of the expected powerhouses.
Tracy Bulls at Ohio Federals 142 – 160
This was expected to be a low scoring trench battle with a close final score and it was, as the Federals managed to improve their record despite a mediocre performance. Ohio’s 160 points were better than last week’s 131, but still fall short of the 203 points per game average they established through their first 5 weeks. They scored just 69 on offense, but their 80 defensive points were closer to their normally topend showing on that side of the line. Last year’s league runners-up stumble to a disappointing 3-4 record with this rematch of last years championship. The week 5 meeting between this pair was an 8 point Tracy win, but in this one, the Bulls managed just 47 points of offense and 66 on defense to fall 1-2 on the all time series.
Miami Stallions at Jefferson Panthers 190 – 156
The home team Panthers drop to 2-5 on the season despite a heroic effort on offense. Scoring 84 offensive points, Jefferson was led by Aaron Jones’ 26 points with Kyler Murray and Christian Kirk contributing 20+ as well, but despite managing 2 interceptions, the Panther defense could only generate 60 total points. Miami gets a much needed win in this one, clawing their way to a 3-4 record in a very tough division. After scoring 50 points for Miami last week, quarterback Joe Burrow scored 60 week 7 points as he led the Stallion offense to 190 total points. Adding another 31 on special teams and 61 on defense, Miami has now scored 190 or more points in 4 out of 7 contests this season.
New Orleans Raiders at Wisconsin Dells Invaders 175 – 127
After joining the team in the 2021 playoff run, Jimmy Garoppolo rejoined the Raiders’ quarterback carousel after being cut in favor of his replacement, Trey Lance in 2021. Things have now come full circle for New Orleans at the quarterback position after a brief, disastrous experiment with Carson Wentz – also on his second time around as a Raider. Garoppolo led New Orleans’ offense to 75 total points in the win, scoring 27 points of his own. That’s the most the Raiders have gotten from the quarterback position since Wentz scored 35 in his first tour of duty in week 7 of the 2020 season, 2 years ago. The Raiders’ normally solid defense could only muster 53 points in the win, but their Vegas Raider special teams unit posted the week’s league high 47 points. For the Invaders, another low scoring outing leaves them with a 1-6 record. With at least 6 of their regular starters scoring at a rate of 50% or less of their prior season totals, the Wisconsin locker room must be in turmoil at the midpoint of the season.
Minnesota Gamblers at AFFL Bandits 171 – 121
Minnesota made it out of this one with a much needed win despite another pedestrian performance. Their 95 points of offense was their second best effort all season, led by Mahommes’ 36 points. But defense continues to be their achille’s heel, scoring just 63 points against the Bandits.
Zigs and Zags
- Bicton breakers climb from #11 to #5 in total scoring and overtakes New orleans for #2 on the all time list
- Gunslingers drop from #12 to #16, Outlaws drop from #9 to #17
- Showboats pass Blitz and Outlaws to take over #5 on the all time list
- Express climb from #7 to #3 in offensive scoring; Blitz climb from33 to 32
- Bulls fall from #2 to #5; Renegades fall from #4 to #8
- Blitz jumps from #9 to #4 in defensive scoring; no changes on the all time list
- Gunslingers rise from #3 to 32 in specail teams scoring; Stars rise from #5 to #3
- Generals drop from#7 to #10
Playoff Race
If the Playoffs were held today…..
- Wranglers ( Div Champ )
- Express (DC)
- Showboats (DC)
- Gold (DC)
- Blitz (Standings WC #1)
- Renegades (Points WC#1)
- Gunslingers (SWC#2)
- Breakers (PWC#2)
In the Hunt…..
- Standings Wild Card
- Generals
- Outlaws
- Breakers
- Points Wild Card
- Federals
- Raiders
- Bulls