AFFL2022 Week5 Recap: Italy Blitzed! Outlaws Asleep at Wheel
Week 5 Highlight Game
B.C. Blitz AT Italian Wranglers 290 – 185
One of the keys to the Wranglers’ success has always been that it’s such a tightly knit organization; the team is well known for doing everything together as a team…..Today, the offense, defense, and special teams all underperformed together as a team. With just 91/77/14 points across off/def/spt, the Wranglers turned in their lowest points total of the season. Italy got good production from players like mark Andrews (34 points) and Dalvin Cook (31 points), but it was an otherwise horrible day for several of their stars, including Russel Wilson (5 points), AJ Brown (5 points), and Nick Bosa (1 point). The visiting British Columbia squad did not have the same problem. The Blitz had scored 193, 195, 185, and 199 in their first four matches….all mostly winning scores in this league, but B.C. suspected none of those would be good enough to beat the Wranglers and flew into Milan ready to post their highest total of the year because the knew they’d need it. Face of the franchise, QB Jalen Hurts gained 50 points of his own as he led an offensive attack on the Wranglers that included contributions of 35 (Mike Williams), 35 (Rhamondre Stevenson), 29 (Jakobi Meyers), and 21 (Christian McCaffery) for 170 points of offense. Their offense alone provided almost enough firepower to defeat Italy, but the Blitz added 19 on special teams and 98 from a defense led by team veteran Aaron Donald’s 40 points. This outcome leaves both teams with a 4-1 record, but gives B.C. the tiebreaker, creating the awkward scenario of the Blitz being first in the division(head to head), with Italy second, while the Wranglers remain first in the league with B.C. second (points). These teams will face each other again in just 2 weeks as Italy makes the trip to the west coast of Canada, and neither have knockdown week 6 opponents (Federals and Panthers), so it’s doubtful the fireworks in this division are over.
Around the League
Pittsburgh Maulers AT Tampa Bay Renegades 118 – 252
The Maulers, who’ve been up and down all year, suffered another disappointing performance with this week’s 118 point loss, though they could have produced twice as much and still come up short to Tampa’s explosion of points. Renegade quarterback Josh Allen retained his position as the league’s #1 scoring player, as he led the Renegades to their monstrous week 5 total. Allen posted 49 points to pace the offense on their way to a 130 point afternoon, tying their previous high from week 3. New acquisition Micah Parsons, on the team just hours before starting after being acquired by trade and promoted from the Showboat practice squad, contributed 36 points on defense to go with defensive captain Antoine Winfield’s 38 points. After firing half their special teams and bench earlier this season, and now a blockbuster trade that sent the face of the franchise, QB Justin Herbert, to division rival Ohio on Saturday, the Maulers’ locker room seems to still be in a reorganizational phase.
SoCal Gold AT Bicton Breakers 239 – 144
In a match down under, the visiting SoCal Gold’s 239 points on the way to their 3rd win was enough for them to overtake the mighty Wranglers on the season scoring list. The home team Bicton Breakers, though, suffered their 3rd 153 point or less loss of the year, with lead back Derrick Henry contributing 38 of the offense’s 64 total points, his 132 all purpose yards and twin touchdowns were one of the few bright spots on the day for the Australians. Socal was solid Gold pretty much across the board on this one from Kelce’s 38 points on offense to DeShon Elliot’s 45 points from the safety position, 9 of 14 players contributed 17 or more points. Despite now leading the league in scoring, SoCal still finds itself at 3-2 and a game back from division leader Sleeperville. They lost to the Outlaws in the first game of the series and won’t see them again until the season finale which leaves room for lots to change, for both teams, in the interim.
Ohio Federals AT Tracy Bulls 194 – 202
With a margin of just 8 points, this rematch of last year’s Association Bowl is headed into fantasy overtime. Should the Bulls win stand, the Champs will fall to 2-3 with 2 of those losses by just a few points (2 and 8). Ohio needed a miracle Monday night, and almost pulled it off, holding Tracy to just 3 points while scoring 69 in a comeback attempt that fell just short. Newly acquired QB Herbert threw for just one touchdown and posted only 19 points in his Federals’ debut, while Tony Pollard and Tyler Lockett, after starting all season, were inexplicably benched with their 23 and 33 points. The Feds fall to last in the division while Tracy sits in 3rd with the same 2-3 record. Their unlikely star QB, Geno Smith continues to shine, contributing 28 points of his own while leading the Bulls offense to 128 points. Tracy’s wide receiver tandem of Diggs and Kupp continued to be studs, with 29 and 35 points, and Tracy got another 32 from halfback Jeff Wilson. The Bulls are 2-2 in division; they’ve been swept by San Quintin, but now have an important win each against Tampa and Ohio. They face a divisional stand with Pittsburgh next week and then travel to Ohio for the second half of this week’s game.
Prince George Generals AT Winston-Salem Express 150 – 241
Finally looking like the team preseason pundits predicted, the home team Express steamrolled the visiting Blitz. With a decent 76 point performance on defense, and a non-factor 8 of them on special teams, it was the home team offense that put on a show for the crowd. Concussion problems with $50 million dollar investment Tua-Tag-Aloha may have led Winston-Salem to stumble onto a winning formula as they fielded an archaic Single Wing Offense that produced 154 offensive points. Led by Austin Ekeler’s 52 points from the tailback position with another 37 from rookie Breece Hall at wingback. Receiver Justin Jefferson contributed his own 47 points on 154 yards and a 23 yard pass. For Prince George, it’s a second, frustrating loss, and the second low scoring one, after being off to a hot 3-0 start. The loss costs them in the points race as well, as they fall from #6 to #10. Despite getting off to a rough start, the explosive win puts the Express in control of the Landry Division. They’ll get the chance to cement that position next week as they draw Wisconsin and Prince George must face the Outlaws.
Jefferson Panthers AT Miami Stallions 156 = 147
In another low scoring battle headed into fantasy overtime the Panthers have a 9 point advantage and, if the sloppy win stands, would advance to 2-3. Lead back Leonard Fournette’s 39 points – almost half of the 86 point offensive total – was one of the few highlights of their day, but that, and a solid 31 point showing on special teams could be enough to hold onto the victory. The Stallions’ 147 points was only the second time all season Miami has produced less than 190 points, so it was likely just a rough day, but in a division where they find themselves chasing both the Wranglers and Blitz, an overtime reversal and win in this one would be huge.
AFFL Bandits AT Minnesota Gamblers
Gamblers QB Patrick Mahommes was productive, as usual, and posted 37 points for them, but that was the end of the offensive highlights, with the rest of the offense totalling just another 11 points. Minnesota produced 94 on defense, though, with 3, 20 plus point performances, including 25 from defensive captain Von Bell who now has outings of 8, 22, 28, 33, and 25 points. The league sponsored Bandits have now settled into last place in the Paul Brown Division with a 2-3 record.
Guatemala City Stars AT San Quintin Showboats 191 – 249
The Showboats already had the game in hand – 203-191 – before lead back Josh Jacobs took the field Monday night to turn in a 46 point performance on almost 200 all purpose yards. San Quintin totaled 97 on offense and another 99 on defense led by safety Chauncy Gardner-Johnson’s 41 points, and, for good measure, added another 50 from their special teams unit. The win leaves them just one game back in the division behind Tampa who they’ll meet in a Halas Division showdown next week. The visiting Stars looked fantastic on offense for the first time all season, producing 117 points after 4 consecutive sub-75 point outings. But with just 42 points on defense, their Hot Tamale defense let them down at the wrong time, costing them one that might have gone into the win column. The struggling Guatemala franchise remains last in division.
Sleeperville Outlaws AT Grand Strand Gunslingers 129 – 169
All players turn in a bad day once in a while, but the problem for Sleeperville came this week when all of the Outlaws seemed to have their bad day on the same weekend as the formerly undefeated squad could only muster just 129 points of scoring – almost 50 points less than their previous low. Scoring just 64 on offense, 8 on special teams, and 57 on defense, safety Brandon Jones’ 32 points was the only bright spot on the day for the Outlaws, who, nonetheless, remain in control of the Brown Division. Running the wildcat formation this week, Grand Strand’s Nick Chubb accounted for 40 points after turning in over a hundred yards of rushing and a pair of touchdowns, but the Gunslingers couldn’t get much more than that going, totaling just 62 points on offense. Thanks to Sleeperville’s unproductive weekend, Grand Strand makes it out of the hostile crowd of their in-state rival with a win and a 3-2 record. They now have 2 wins from sub-170 point games.
Wisconsin Dells Invaders AT New Orleans Raiders 115 – 232
In New Orleans, Raiders’ tight end and home town favorite Taysom Hill has been given the keys to the city, the keys to Raiders’ Yullman Stadium, and the keys to the coach’s car after turning in a 66 point afternoon on 3 touchdowns – one of them a pass – and over a hundred yards of rushing. Hill’s performance led the New Orleans offense to a 115 point total on their way to the first win of the season. For a game that looked incredibly close through the first two quarters, Wisconsin just ran out of steam long before the Raiders did, and, beyond Alvin Kamara’s 30 points, had 10 players on the roster sheet turn in less than 10 points, and 8 of those with less than 7. The outcome of this one leaves the Invaders in the Landry Division basement as the Raiders climb out of it. Despite the now 1-4 record, New Orleans climbed from #12 to #7 on the season scoring list this week.
Odds and Ends
- SoCal moves from #2 in total scoring to #1; and passes Miami by 1 point for #8 on the All Time list
- Blitz climbs from #7 to #3 in Total Scoring; Sleeperville drops from #3 to #9
- Blitz climbs from #8 to #3 in Offensive Scoring
- Wranglers overtake the Generals for #1 on the Defensive scoring list
- SoCal climbs from #7 to #3; Miami falls from #3 to #5
- Blitz overtakes the Breakers for #3 on the All Time Defensive Scoring list
- Bicton overtakes Ohio for #1 on the season Special Teams Scoring list and overtakes New Orleans for #3 all time