A Posse Of Clowns

LEGION – The Week 13 Wild Card match in the Legion of Defense carried a bit more meaning than most wild card games, being a rematch of the 2016 Legion Bowl IV between AF#5 Suspension Freaks and AF#9 Insane Clowney Posse, both 2017-18 AF Pro Bowl Nominees.  It was the rematch Nexecutioner’s Clowns had waited almost an entire year for, and though the two teams have met 3 times in the intervening time, with 3 Clown victories, this was their chance for a post season victory.  And they did not waste it.  The Defending Legion Champion Freaks came in as the Points Wild Card Team, and were far and away the league scoring leader through the regular season, and they jumped ahead right out of the gate in this one, forcing ICP to play from behind all day through the Sunday games.  The Clowns only managed to post 10 points, and things looked bleak, with Shane Rocks’ Bouncing Bengals taking a 17 point lead, but the Clowns played to the whistle, and racked up 28 points on Sunday Night Football to take control of the game.  The Freaks had a chance for comeback, with their team captain, linebacker Vontaze Burfict playing under the lights on MNF, but they still trailed by 10 when he exited the game with a concussion late in the 4th, and Insane Clowney Posse took the victory they’d been waiting a year for, with a final score of 41.50-30.50

The Insane Clowns, who amassed a 7-5-0 record through the regular season and came into the game as the Premier Wild Card – the second place team in the Premier Division.  They had beaten the Freaks in all three Premier Match-ups this season, and the Wild Card win completes the sweep.  The Freaks entered the match tied for first in IDP sacks, but the Clowns produced a better sack tally in the game with 3 and a half, plus 5 QB hits.  They racked up 26 tackles, 5 of them for a loss, and 3 passes defensed on their way to the victory, and head into the Legion’s Championship Tournament with momentum.  They face the Reserve Division Champion, Sacks Fifth Avenue in Week 14 for round 1, while the Premier and All-Pro Division Champions, Mighty Pats and Gates of Delirium go head to head.  All four teams will play a 3 week round robin in Weeks 14, 15, and 16, and the top 2 to come out of the 3 week tournament will face each other in the Week 17 Legion Bowl V.

Suspension Freaks, meanwhile, enter the Play-In Bracket as the #1 seed and will face BIGDOGINTEX as their first opponent.  The Play-In Bracket, extends for 3 weeks also, a single elimination bracket that includes all Legion teams not in the Championship.  The last team standing, takes on the 4th place team from the Championship Tournament in the Week 17 Premier Bowl, so it’s not inconceivable that these two will meet again in this season.  Traditionally, the Play-In bracket and the Premeir Bowl are used to place its winner into the Premier Division in the next season, but word has it, that this might be the final season for the legion’s tiered division experiment.  The front office has indicated that a new league structure is on the way, but have also stated that the results of the Play-In Bracket will, at least in some part, be used to help determine the order of the 2018 draft, so with 4 weeks of battle remaining, there still lots to play for.  The Legion stats for sacks, interceptions, fumbles forced and recovered, and defensive scoring are still being tracked as well, all the way through to Week 17 for the highly coveted season campaign medals.