Quest For the West
SUPER 16 – It’s one for the money, and two for the show in the Super 16 this week as the league rolls out a special feature doubleheader, double SimulPlay, double divisional Game if the Week. The quest for the S16 West will light up this week and so should the scoreboards as the West Division franchise face one another with both games scheduled as SimulPlay matches, coinciding with real world NFL divisional battles.
The fireworks kickoff as the #1 team in the league, the undefeated SF’s BowMen (3-0-0) travel to the Valley of the Sun to hunt the #3 Arizona Firebirds (2-1-0), while the 49ers and Cardinals face off simultaneously in their own division battle. These teams are the #1 and #2 scoring teams in the league right now and the over-under for this game already stands at 339 with just a 5 point spread in favor of BowMen. The pair have met 4 times before now, with the Firebirds leading the series 3 games to 1; BowMen have split their two Week 4 match-ups with a win and a loss since joining the S16 in 2015, while charter member Arizona has played in five Week 4 games and lost 4 of them, with their only successful Week 4 outing a 3 point victory all the way back in 2012. History aside, the Firebirds definitely have a scoring edge coming into this one, averaging 208 points per game despite losing their star running back to injury in Week 1, while BowMen’s per game average is 199.
Arizona’s only loss so far, has come from an undefeated Raider franchise, 1 Eye Til I Die who are 3-0-0 like the BowMen, ranked #2 overall in the league, and trail their crossbay rival by just 34 points in the standings. Twenty minutes after the fireworks kick off in the desert, Coach Mac’s silver and black will be setting off their own fireworks a mile above the Rocky Mountains, taking on Shrimpy’s expansion Dem Bucking Broncs (1-2-0) in the teams’ first ever match-up. Going into Week 4, the S16’s Broncos franchise is the lowest ranked West Division team sitting at just 11th overall in the league, but both of their losses have come from the #1 San Francisco Archers who they’ve already played twice. Despite the losses, they still rank 8th overall in scoring and in the one game they’ve played out of division, they beat Steel Curtain convincingly, 210-160. 1 Eye ranks 3rd in the league in scoring right now, behind only their division rivals Firebirds and Bowmen, but have already beaten the Firebirds, giving them their only loss so far this season. Vegas has them as 17 point favorites in the game, but the Denver Broncos, hosting the Raiders at the same time in a hotly contested real world game may be enough to tip the scales.
Other Week 4 matches in the Super 16 includes one other SimulPlay game, this one a rematch of Super Bowl 5 between the defending Champ Northern Fins and the Who Dat Saints that the league offices had originally slated for the Game of the Week slot, but both teams appear to be struggling early this season and the league exercised their flex scheduling option in light of the #1, #2, and #3 rankings in the West Division games. There are also some very interesting divisional match-ups this week between Eagle has landed and Geno’s Jaw Breakers as well as the Indy-structibles taking on The Dawg Pound. Motor City Kitties, fresh of their Week 3 Game of the Week victory will face Steel Curtain and Birds of Prey (2-1-0) will have a South Division showdown with BIGDOGINTEX (2-1-0) with the winner to take control of the division. BEARMINATORS play WTF HOUSTON in a game where both teams are 0-3, so one of them, at least, will get their first win of the season.