Karma and a Kicker: Super 16 Year In Review: 2015

Meanwhile, in the South Division in Week 2, two active win-streaks collided as the H-Town Foster Kids and their 5 game win streak faced off against the Birds of Prey who were riding an 8 game regular season win streak.  The match was incredibly close, but with the 174 – 167 win, the Birds extended their streak to 9 games, which brought them into a 3-way tie for all time win streaks ( with the Bruschis from 2012, and with themselves from 2013-14).

Week 8

The Week 8 Game of the Week, featured the 7-0 Birds of Prey, in the midst of an unbelievable 14 game win-streak facing their toughest test of the season in the Los Angeles Super Chargers (4-2-1) who were ranked 5th overall and averaging 210 points a game over their last 4 games.  Still,  Vegas had Los Angeles installed as 59 point underdogs.   In the end it was worse than that, as the Birds of Prey extended their regular season win streak to 15 straight with a trouncing of the Super Chargers 269-176.  With the win, the Birds clinched their Division Championship earlier than any team’s ever done it, securing their 2015 post season ticket.

 In the East, at this point, the Ice Cold Bruschis were quietly still the best team in the league, 8-0 after a convincing 254-192 SimulPlay win over division rival Northern ‘Fins, the Bruschis had outscored the Birds by about 75 points on the season, and could  clinch their own Division Championship with a win the following week in a rematch with the ‘Fins.  In the North, the strugling 2014 Defending Champion BEARMINATORS recorded their very first win of the season while the rest of the division stumbled.  The Kitties still held the lead, but their record in Week 8 was a middling 4-4.  Meanwhile out West, the 3 franchises not based out of Los Angeles all won, keeping the standings knotted up.

Week 9

The Game of the Week for Week 9, was a rematch of the season opener, with the all-important West Division standings hanging in the balance as the expansion SF’s BowMen (6-2-0) took on the expansion 1 Eye Til I Die (5-2-1) for the second time.  The two were ranked 4th and 5th overall in the league, but 2nd and 3rd in their division, trailing the Firebirds by 1 and 1.5 games, respectively.  The oddsmakers had 1 Eye installed as a mere 10 point favorite, so it looked like it would be a close game.  The way the early playoff picure was shaping up, both Wildcard slots could have come out of the West, and neither the 49er or Raider franchise could afford to lose this game.  This was the two teams’ second all-time meeting, the BowMen having decimated 1 Eye in the Week 1 opener 213-97.  The BowMen were 2-1 in Division, including that win over 1 Eye.  A win this week would give them a tiebreaker over the silver and black in the playoff race.  1 Eye had won every non-division game they had played to this point in the season, but had not yet won a single division game, posting losses against the BowMen and Firebirds, and having to settle for the Week 7 tie with Los Angeles.  A win this week, would propel them ahead of SF in the division race on the strength of that tie.

The Raider franchise prevailed – barely, dispatching rival BowMen 173-168 in what would prove to be a pivotal moment in the 2015 play off push.  1 Eye moved into second place in the West, a half a game behind the Firebirds and a half a game ahead of the BowMen by virtue of that tie on their record.  The real story of Week 9, however were the killer fish of the Northern ‘Fins squad, who knocked off the league #1 and ended division rival Ice Cold Bruschis’ win streak at 8 in their 226-151 rout of the East leader.  The Fin’s win also prevented the Bruschis from clinching the division title for one more week.

Birds of Prey extended their regular season win-streak to an unbelievable 16 straight with their 210- 165 dismantling of The Eagle has Landed, while in the North Division, Motor City easily handled rival Indy 186-154 to stay a game ahead of the Dawg Pound (4-5) for a tenuous hold on the division.

The first match between these teams, in Week 6 was won by the Firebirds with only a 14 point margin of victory.  The Vegas line on the rematch had the Firebirds favored once again, but this time by only 6, but it was 1 Eye that would come out on top, pulling off the upsetand advancing their record to    It was never as close as the 187-174 final score would indicate, as 1 Eye Til I Die led the Firebirds throughout the match, and a MNF comeback was not to be had for Arizona.  With the win, 1 Eye took over as the West Division leader, and moved into 3rd overall with their 7-2-1 record.  Arizona dropped to 4th overall, a half game back from the Oakland franchise with a record of 7-3-0; SF’s BowMen right behind the Firebirds also with a 7-3-0 record of their own after effectively ending Los Angeles’ playoff hopes in a 175-145 win over the them.  Arizona held the tiebreaker with SF, and the two were scheduled to meet again in Week 12.

In the East, the Ice Cold Bruschis rebounded from their Week 9 upset loss to dominate the Foster Kids, securing a 192-148 victory, and with it the East Division Championship.  The Northern ‘Fins completely dominated the Eagle, posting a 221-162 win.  It was the second consecutive 220+ point outing for the ‘Fins, and the 5th with a score topping 190.  Now at 5-5-0, the Dolphin franchise was sitting two games back from the pack of likely Wild Card teams, to punch their ticket, the ‘Fins would need to win out, and hope for a meltdown by one of the western squads.

The Birds of Prey extended their win-streak in Week 10 to 17 consecutive regular season wins,  surviving their bye-strength match, they dispatched BIGDOGINTEX in a close 145-122 match.  A first round bye seemed almost certain for the Birds at this point, but they had not yet clinched it.  Like the Fins, the Karma and a Kicker Who Dats still had a glimmer of hope for a shot at a Wild Card spot after they defeated the Jawbreakers 184-151 to advance to .500  They’d need to win out and get lots of help from the West.  In the S16 North, all four teams still had a statistical shot at the division crown, but the Motor City Kitties were the odds on favorites as their win over Indy in Week 10 left them as the only team in the division above .500  They could clinch the title in Week 11 with a win AND a loss by the Dawg Pound.

Week 11

The SimulPlay match-up set as Week 10’s Game of the Week was essentially an early playoff bout.  For either team, a loss would not be the end of the world, but a win would go a long way toward locking down their playoff future.  The 7-2-1 Raider squad was fresh off a victory over the Firebirds that gave them control of the West Division with just a half game lead over both Arizona and San Francisco.  They were on a 3 game winning streak with, mathematically, the softest finishing schedule of the 3 teams fighting for the Western crown.  The Motor City Kitties were, at this point, ranked 6th overall in the league and had a 2 game advantage on their nearest division rival.  They would secure the North Division Championship this week with a win AND a Dawg Pound loss.

In what proved to be a game that helped define the season, the Kitties unleashed all the horses, defeating 1 Eye 180-141 to secure their playoff spot and the Division Championship.  The loss dropped 1 Eye back into second place in the West, by half a game with a 7-3-1 record, as Arizona advanced to 8-3-0 after defeating Los Angeles.  San Francisco was screwed by Marshawn Lynch once more, as the BowMen dropped to 7-4-0  in their upset loss to The Eagle.  The loss put the BowMen out of the division race, but they still controlled their own destiny for the Wild Card.

The biggest news of Week 11, though, was the roller coaster ride Birds of Prey‘s win streak took the league on.  As the weekend’s games wound down, it became clear that the seemingly impossible had happened as the Birds of Prey fell to the Indy-structibles 174-178, ending a 17 game regular season win-streak.  The Falcon franchise had not lost a game since Week 6 of 2014, and had beaten their division rivals 9 times in that same span.  But then, miraculously, a Wednesday stat correction overturned the loss, giving the Birds a 1 point victory for what would have been an 18th straight win.  It was a win that never made it to the record books as The Indy-structibles would not be denied their triumph.  A Thursday stat correction reversed the outcome for a second time, and the score finaly settled at 177-175 Indy.  The incredible win streak was over.

The match-up did not disappoint.  A close, back and forth affair that wasn’t decided until the end.  A last-ditch rally on Sunday Night Football (101.00 points, or 71% of their total score) wasn’t enough for the Ice Cold Bruschis, as the Birds of Prey got the 163.00 to 142.00 victory.  The Birds were led by A.J. Green who scored two touchdowns and contributed 21.00 points to the cause,  while Ice Cold Bruschis’ lead receiver, Demaryius Thomas disappointed, being targeted 13 times and only able to reel in one catch.

The win locked down the #1 seed – again – for Birds of Prey, while the rest of the playoff field, though becoming more clear, still needed seeding.  The loss prevented the Bruschis from securing the other first round Bye, and they were now in a race for that slot with both Arizona and Motor City.

Arizona won a hugely important match vs division rival BowMen, while 1 Eye won an equally important one against the Super Chargers that prevented the Firebirds from clinching the division, and also clinched, at worst, the #6 seed for 1 Eye.  The final wild card slot was now a race between BowMen (7-5-0) and the Northern ‘Fins (7-5-0) after the Karma and a Kicker Who Dats eliminated themselves in a Week 12 meltdown vs arch rival H-Town (121-161).  The ‘Fins pulled off a 215 point monster Week 12 win vs the Jaw Breakers (177), so that, despite losing 4 of their first 5, they had managed to close the gap and put themselves into position for the playoffs.

The Arizona Firebirds 10-3-0 (5-1-0) posted a Week 13 win, sweeping the 2015 series with division foe Los Angeles to clinch the #2 seed and win their division for the second time in franchise history.  They finished just a half a game ahead of 1 Eye Til I Die 9-3-1 (3-2-1) who’d been chasing them for the Western title all season.  In the end, the Week 7 tie between 1 Eye and Los Angeles, made all the difference.  With their Week 13 victory, 1 Eye would have to settle for the #5 seed as a playoff Wild Card spot.

The results of the weekend would prove to be decisive. Behind a monster performance by Khalil Mack, 1 Eye Til I Die defeated the Motor City Kitties on the strength of Mack’s 5 sacks and 7 qb hits contributing to the posting a 49 point afternoon in 1 Eye’s 199 – 170 win. Despite disappointing 1 point performances by Charles Clay and Megatron, Motor City still managed to post a 78 – 49 point offensive advantage, but the Raiders franchise won with their defense. At the team defense position, the Raiders out-scored the Lions’ Defense 22-6, and with IDP’s, 1 Eye Til I Die turned in a 128 point defensive outing while Motor City only had 86. Besides Mack’s 49 points, 1 Eye Til I Die also got a 31 point day from LaVonte David, the two players combining for 80 of their 199 points (40%) If you add in the Raiders Defense’s 22 points, the three positions accounted for 51% of 1 Eye’s team total.

For the victors, a few players had been heating up in the postseason, most notably Teddy Bridgewater and Short. During the playoffs, that duo has outperformed their season scoring averages by 57% and 46%, respectively. Conversely, Birds of Prey had a couple of players heading in the opposite direction. A.J. Green and Aaron Donald had both fallen well beneath their year-to-date averages during the postseason. Despite the loss, Ice Cold Bruschis had several players performing their best in the playoffs, including Jamie Collins and Michael Floyd. During the postseason, that combo averaged 23.67 and 13.67 points, respectively, topping their season-long marks by 84% and 57%. On the other hand, the losers had a player who was sputtering under the brightest lights. Averaging 12.75 points on the season, Chandler Jones mustered just 9.33 per game in the playoffs.