The Horse Whisperers
SUPER 16 – The Halloweekend Game of the Week in the Super 16 lived up to every bit of the hype that preceeded it, with the outcome going all the way down to the very end of the Monday night game as Dem Bucking Broncs fell just 11 points short in an attempted late game comeback. This was after AF#4 WRATH OF ODIN, had made their own comeback on Sunday night, producing 98 points after having trailed the Broncs throughout the day. When it was all over, Odin walked away from the battle still undefeated, 8-0-0, with a 193-182 victory, their slimmest of the season, and also the first time all year they’ve failed to top 200 points.
With the win, WRATH OF ODIN maintains their stranglehold on the North Division, now with a 4 game lead after Motor City (4-4-0) beat Dawg Pound (3-5-0) 205-171 in the cat-dog rivalry game. With just 5 games remaining in the regular season, both the Detroit and Cleveland franchises have just the slimmest mathematical chances remaining to make a run at the Division title, particularly the Dawgs, who have two head to head losses against ODIN.
In the West, the Broncs (3-5-0) are 4 games back from the lead as well after the AF#23 1 Eye Til I Die (7-1-0) came away with a narrow 5 point victory after an entertaining back and forth SimulPlay match-up with The Indy-structibles (1-7-0). The final score of 213-208 was what was left after Indy started two bye week defenders, giving up a potential win. Despite trailing significantly in the standings, the Denver franchise continues to score points at an elevated clip while hoping 1 Eye stumbles along the way to the pair’s Week 13 season finale. The Broncs must face Cleveland, Houston, Detroit, and Arizona on the way to that regular season showdown and needs to manage a sweep of all four while hoping the 1 Eyes suffer some loses on their own way – with the Who Dats and ODIN on the horizon, the black and silver would appear to have the tougher closing schedule between the two.
The South Division is the most competitive it’s ever been after the AF#16 Who Dat Saints (5-3-0) and AF#12 Birds of Prey (5-3-0) took week 8 losses while their division rivals in Texas each came away with victories. For their third straight win, BIGDOGINTEX (5-3-0) got away with the narrow upset victory, 152-148 over BoP in week 8 and is now leading a 3 way standings tie with the Saints and Falcons franchises, while WTF HOUSTON (4-4-0) is just a game behind the big dogs after their own 250-219 upset win in week 8 against the Northern Fins (4-4-0). Week 9 is a divisional weekend for the South, with all four teams playing each other, while the final three weeks of the regular season (weeks 11-13) feature three SimulPlay matches – BIGDOG vs Birds in Week 11; Birds vs Who Dats in Week 12; and Who Dats vs Big Dogs in Week 13 – that are going to wind up deciding this season’s South Division Champs.
The East Division is just as tied up as the South. The Fins’ loss to Houston, along with Steel Curtains’ 224-173 win over the Saints, leaves both franchises 4-4-0 after week 8. Eagle has landed (4-4-0) is right alongside them after delivering a second consecutive loss to AF#24 Geno’s Jaw Breakers (3-5-0). Despite ranking last place in the East with a sub-.500 record, the Jaw Breakers remain the #4 scoring team in the league, while the Fins are #3; the two face each other next week in a rematch of the Week 2 GoW that the Northern Fins won, 228-202. Things should only get more exciting over the next 5 weeks in the S16 as most playoff spots remain wide open.