CRYSTAL BOWL 51 PREVIEW

Crystal Bowl 51- Adelphia Phoenix vs Caligara Bulldogs
Sunday 28th February 2021, 6pm at Adelphia’s DIY Depot Arena

The 51st Crystal Bowl is a matchup of two powerhouses- one old and one new. The storied franchise, the Bulldogs have more pro football titles than anyone else in Eborian history. They are making it three trips in a row this year, having lost the first to the Tigers and beating the Wasps last March.

The Phoenix, who only joined the league in 2008 are appearing in the big game for the fourth time, having won two of their previous games. Chip Bailey, 61, who has been the Head Coach since 2010, has once again taken the offensive guru-ness to new levels with the 2020-21 attack.

ADELPHIA ATTACK vs CALIGARA DEFENCE:
Quarterback Matt Kelly, a 13 year veteran, has lots of help around him in Jayson McGuire, Kyle Walters, Patrick Schwartz (Anchor, TE in US) and Jamarcus White. The two-headed run game is fronted by rookie sensation Kylian Floyd and backed up by Jamal Davies. Both can catch passes too. The O-Line is solid, not spectacular. Fullback Jon Lucas runs, blocks so well and, of course, catches passes too.

In the playoffs there’s been a reliance on Anchor Patrick Schwartz on third downs and when the receivers are well covered. The Bulldogs will need to cancel him out as an option.

The Bulldogs ‘D’ boasts ALL-PFL players, Shareece Franklin, Calvin Thomas and Jason Randle will cause headaches to the front line. The secondary is strong, with Nick Williams, Kyle Neal and J.J. Peters starring.

EDGE: Adelphia Attack, by a small margin. A close call.

CALIGARA ATTACK vs ADELPHIA DEFENCE
Quarterback Zack Slater was a second round pick in XXXX. He has gone on to prove all doubters wrong as the Bulldogs reach there third consecutive Bowl appearance. His namesake, Seth, is the Star receiver who attracts a lot of double coverage. This helps Mike Harvey and Dennis Morales to find open spaces. Veteran Anchor Mark Martinez is a good safety valve to have. Slater is nursing an elbow injury to his non-throwing arm, which may distract him slightly.

Similarly to the Phoenix, the ‘Dogs have a good ground game. Jeremy Franklin and Glen Norman share duties, with Franklin the number 1. The O-Line is one of the league’s best. veteran Shyrone Hall stands out at LT.

The Phoenix defence was mainly built in the last five drafts – DT Dez Williams commands the middle, whilst Ends Eddie Blake and Terrell Houston are always useful. The midfield (Linebackers) is stacked with tackle-machine Michael Keys lining up with Charlie Clayton and rookie Keith Walker. The secondary is boom or bust. When on they shut down, when off they seem to fall apart. Which one turns up on Sunday?

EDGE: The Bulldogs eek out, with a great O-line to protect Slater, it should be advantage Caligara.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This is evens, good kickers, punters and long snappers. Returners Mike Harvey (Bulldogs) and Jamarcus White both had two return TDs this season.

COACHING: Chip Bailey has the edge on coaching experience with 11 years in the PFL and three CB trips, Jon Palmer has experience as a player and coach at the big game. Palmer prodigious rise from defence co-ordinator to head coach has culminated in three bowl appearances in his first three seasons! How much of last year’s success was pure motivation from failing the year before? That remains to be seen.
Advantage to Adelphia due to longevity of Bailey.

OVERALL– This seems to close to call on paper, but we’ll give the advantage to the experience of the Bulldogs in this one. Their third trip in a row, they will be prepared. Expect a high-scoring affair with the Bulldogs coming out on top, maybe in additional time.

WEEK 19 RECAP- FINAL WEEK PREVIEW

The Professional Football League’s regular season comes to an end this coming weekend. With 17 games played in the 19 weeks to date, Seven of the eight play-off spots are secured, with the final week bringing up some intriguing encounters.

To recap: with the Caligara Bulldogs lost 29-24 to the Ballymore Tigers, they relinquished the number one seed position to the Landor 96ers (as they lost in the head-to-head encounter). Meanwhile, the Hallas Stars secured their PFL West divisional championship with a 37-10 victory at Eregon Eagles. The San Andreas Miners kept in the play-off chase with their shaky 16-9 win over the St George Sharks – they will need to better the Bristow Bears result in the final week.

The New Chester Knights kept up the pressure on the Landor 96ers with their victory over the Melboro Giants. They will win the PFL East division with a win against the 96ers on Sunday and the team from the capital would fill the number 5 seed as the best runner-up!

The Adelphia Phoenix absolutely dismantled and embarrassed the Chakota Wasps in the penultimate game 56-14. Matt Kelly threw for 6 touchdowns and no interceptions in a clinical display. The Wasps defence capitulated in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, leading to calls for the coordinator to lose his job. Chakota will make their decisions after Sunday.

Wins for the Ballymore Tigers and the Oakland Ravens give them good momentum going into the play-offs in the 6th and 7th respectively. In fact, the Ravens could win the PFL Central with a win against Adelphia – so the Phoenix would be on their travels in the play-offs with a loss. This would have been unthinkable about 5 weeks ago!

W2WO4- What to Watch out for! Wk20 Implications

Divisional title deciders: the PFL East comes down to the final confrontation between the Knights and the 96ers. The Knights must win or they will be on the road in the play-offs. Whoever is the runner-up, will be for definite the number 5 seed and will travel to the Hallas Stars.

In the PFL Central: the Oakland Ravens must be the Adelphia Phoenix to win the division on a tiebreaker, otherwise they will be the number 7 seed. Both of these games are great matchups.

Seed jostling Depending on what happens in the Oakland/Adelphia game, the Tigers the 6 or 7 seed, regardless of whether they win or not.

The final play-off spot will be decided by 2 matches: the Bristow Bears at Melboro Giants and the San Andreas Miners hosting the Eregon Eagles. The Bears have the head-to-head advantage, so will automatically go through if they win or if the Miners do not win. In the rare event that the Bears lose and the Miners tie, the Miners would ‘sneak’ in.

The race for the number one draft pick: at the moment the Harteford Hawks have a one-game advantage over the St. George Sharks. If the Hawks however manage to win and the Sharks lose on the final day, were not quite sure of the tiebreaker here because they drew head-to-head and would have the same divisional records! I think it might come down to points conceded, which still heavily favours the Hawks, but this might require further consultation!

Final Week Fixtures:
All games kick off at the same time on Sunday 31st January-

Melboro Giants		vs		Bristow Bears
New Chester Knights		vs		Landor 96ers
Adelphia Phoenix		vs		Oakland Ravens
Rochester Trojans		vs		Chakota Wasps
Harteford Hawks		vs		Ballymore Tigers
Caligara Bulldogs		vs		Iomagh Steelers
San Angelo Miners		vs		Eregon Eagles
Hallas Stars		vs		St. George Sharks

TwO WEEKS TO GO- THE PLAYOFF RUN-IN

There are just two weeks remaining now and the PFL regular-season. 9 teams remain in contention for the 8 play-off places, with Chakota Wasps being eliminated with their defeat against the Oakland Ravens.

In the PFL East, the New Chester Knights still remain one game behind the Landor 96ers, with the two facing each other in the final week of the season.The Bristow bears still hold the eighth slot, with a one-game lead over the San Angelo Miners who remained in contention following their win last night at home to the Hallas Stars.

Adelphia Phoenix’s lead in the PFL Central is back to one-game, following their loss and Oakland’s win. Again, these two teams go head-to-head on the final day. Adelphia will take on the Chakota Wasps this weekend, whilst the Ravens will be looking to do the double against the Rochester Trojans. Adelphia hold the tiebreaker, which will be neutralised with a Ravens win on final day.

The Caligara Bulldogs still hold the best record in the league with a 14-2 record and dibs on the first seed. Behind them, the Ballymore Tigers have gone past the .500 humdrum in the past few weeks and are now sitting pretty at the number six point with a head-to-head advantage over the Oakland Ravens. The less said about the Iomagh Steelers and the Harteford Hawks, the better. Disastrous campaigns for both teams.

Out in the West, the Hallas Stars remain in control of the division, but have slipped to a 10-6 record.Following three successive defeats, the Stars will need to get back into the winning ways before the play-offs start. It is possible for the Miners to win the division if they win out and the Stars lose out. The Miners would win on divisional record. The Eregon Eagles have fared better since Cameron Reed returned, but have still been shaky opponents. The (St. George) Sharks’ dismal season continued with a loss to the Eagles and their reputation has sunk this season.

W2WO4 -What to watch out for

So looking at this penultimate weekend, the Bears can guarantee a play-off spot with a victory and a Miners defeat. A Bears defeat and Miners victory would make the run for the final play-off spot interesting. If the Knights lose and the 96ers win, then Landor will win the PFL East. If the Phoenix win and the Ravens lose, the PFL Central will go to Adelphia.

The Stars win the PFL West with a win and a Miners defeat, which would seal up the fourth play-off spot.

Playoff standings right now:

	PFL	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	PCT	PD	DIV
1	Caligara Bulldogs	16	14	2	0	460	319	.875	141	4-0
2	Landor 96ers	16	13	3	0	452	353	.813	99	4-0
3	Adelphia Phoenix	16	12	4	0	496	344	.750	152	3-1
4	Hallas Stars	16	10	6	0	487	375	.625	112	2-2
5	N.C. Knights	16	12	4	0	420	356	.750	64	3-1
6	Ballymore Tigers	16	11	5	0	410	373	.688	37	3-1
7	Oakland Ravens	16	11	5	0	413	358	.688	55	3-1
8	Bristow Bears	16	9	7	0	359	369	.563	-10	1-3
–	San Angelo Miners	16	8	8	0	391	368	.500	23	4-0
x	Chakota Wasps	16	6	10	0	430	393	.375	37	0-4
x	Rochester Trojans	16	5	11	0	358	450	.313	-92	2-2
x	Melboro Giants	16	5	11	0	333	377	.313	-44	0-4
x	Eregon Eagles	16	4	12	0	298	398	.250	-100	1-3
x	Iomagh Steelers	16	4	12	0	262	438	.250	-176	1-3
x	St. George Sharks	16	2	13	1	298	408	.156	-110	1-3
x	Harteford Hawks	16	1	14	1	227	415	.094	-188	0-4

Week 19 fixtures:

Bristow Bears		vs		Landor 96ers (FRI)
Eregon Eagles		vs		Hallas Stars (SAT)
Chakota Wasps		vs		Adelphia Phoenix (SAT)
Oakland Ravens		vs		Rochester Trojans
St. George Sharks		vs		San Angelo Miners
Harteford Hawks		vs		Iomagh Steelers
Melboro Giants		vs		New Chester Knights
Ballymore Tigers		vs		Caligara Bulldogs (MON)

THREE WEEKS BEFORE PLAYOFFS- 10 TEAMS IN THE HUNT

There are just 3 weeks remaining in the PFL season. 10 of the 16 teams remain in the running for the 8 play-off places. These last 3 weeks all feature exclusively divisional contests.

Tonight the Bears who are in the 8th spot entertain the Knights in an important match up. If the Bears lose, the Miners can gain ground on the 8th spot. The Knights are one game behind the 96ers at the top of the PFL East and will be looking to keep this competitive until the two meet on the final day. The Landor 96ers host the Melborg Giants at noon on Sunday.

Also competing for the final play-off place, are the Chakota Wasps, who will need to win all their remaining 3 games to have even a chance. They are away to the Oakland Ravens this week. The Ravens themselves, being two games behind the Adelphia Phoenix will be looking to continue to press for the PFL Central divisional title. The 12-3 Phoenix are away to the Rochester Trojans, who will be looking for revenge for their earlier thrashing.

The PFL North has been headed by the Caligara Bulldogs since day one, with the Ballymore Tigers coming over a losing streak to maintain a challenge from the runner-up position. The number one seed Bulldogs are at home to the abysmal Harteford Hawks, whilst the Tigers entertain the equally woeful Steelers. With a three-game lead, the Bulldogs are still expected to be the divisional winner and the number one seed.

It’s been a one team show in the PFL West, with the Hallas Stars running through the opposition. The San Angelo Miners have been at around .500 the entire season, they need victories to end the season to gain the final play-off place. The Aragorn Eagles began the season in disarray, when Cameron read had to leave the team for personal reasons so that he could return home to America. They have been 3-6 since his return, which is not bad bearing in mind he’s had to hit the ground running.

The St George Sharks have been a disaster this season, with quarterback Dre Nalen suffering a regression and later injury. The team will likely be moving on from Nalen in the 2021 draft, unless somebody becomes available in free agency.

Current play-off standings:

	PLAYOFF ORDER
	PFL	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	PCT	PD
1	Caligara Bulldogs	15	13	2	0	426	306	.867	120
2	Landor 96ers	15	12	3	0	429	333	.800	96
3	Adelphia Phoenix	15	12	3	0	475	316	.800	159
4	Hallas Stars	15	10	5	0	459	345	.667	114
5	N.C. Knights	15	11	4	0	396	339	.733	57
6	Ballymore Tigers	15	10	5	0	383	356	.667	27
7	Oakland Ravens	15	10	5	0	384	335	.667	49
8	Bristow Bears	15	9	6	0	342	345	.600	-3
–	San Angelo Miners	15	7	8	0	361	340	.467	21
–	Chakota Wasps	15	6	9	0	407	364	.400	43
x	Melborg Giants	15	5	10	0	313	354	.333	-41
x	Rochester Trojans	15	4	11	0	330	429	.267	-99
x	Iomagh Steelers	15	4	11	0	245	411	.267	-166
x	Eregon Eagles	15	3	12	0	281	384	.200	-103
x	St. George Shark	15	2	12	1	284	391	.167	-107
x	Harteford Hawks	15	1	13	1	214	381	.100	-167

‘-‘ in contention, ‘x ‘eliminated

Week 18 fixtures:

Bristow Bears		vs		New Chester Knights (FRI)
Landor 96ers		vs		Melborg Giants
Rochester Trojans		vs		Adelphia Phoenix
Ballymore Tigers		vs		Iomagh Steelers
Caligara Bulldogs		vs		Harteford Hawks
St. George Sharks		vs		Eregon Eagles
Oakland Ravens		vs		Chakota Wasps (SUN Night)
San Angelo Miners		vs		Hallas Stars (MON)

PFL WEST 2020-21 REVIEW

PFL West: Eregon Eagles | Hallas Stars | San Angelo Miners | St. George Sharks

EREGON EAGLES

What type of Eagles team will turn up for the 2020-21 season? It is not helped by QB Cameron Reed having to return to the US over family issues. Veteran QB Bo Mills has just been added in. The Eagles have a good balanced team, who on their day can compete. The problem for the past three seasons has been if the do in fact, show up.

HALLAS STARS

The Stars are looking to rebound from THAT defeat in the playoffs. Chase Hand had a terrific season under Centre, throwing for 5,000 yards and 39 TDs. The defence, for most part played excellently. If not for that second-half slump in a playoff game, we could have been looking at the new champions. They will have to shake off that loss to be stronger this time around.

SAN ANGELO MINERS

The Ryan Bruce era begins! The former Trojan QB is now heading up the Miners. San Angelo are stacked with talent as they have gone all in for the ‘now’. Last season, it didn’t work, but with Bruce’s relatively cap-friendly deal (for a starting QB), it allowed them to other key retain players. Allen and Higgins are hungry young runners, the receiving corps is great. Should be challenging for top of the PFL West- with the Stars.

ST. GEORGE SHARKS

The Sharks are another team that are hard to read, They often struggle against lesser teams, whilst bringing it on against the league’s finest. QB Dre Nalen is a top-tier passer, whilst the defence, lead by Finnish nationals Heikki Karppinen and Niku Laukkanen is good enough to challenge anyone. The hardest team to predict, as they could as easily win the division as sit at the bottom.

PFL NORTH 2020-21 PREVIEW

PFL North| Ballymore Tigers | Caligara Bulldogs | Harteford Hawks | Iomagh Steelers

The PFL North is a balanced division, in that there are two very strong teams and two very weak teams! Due to the new format, Ballymore and Caligara faced off for the championship in 2018-19. Harteford and Iomagh have been battling it out at the bottom, not what either fanbase would like.

BALLMORE TIGERS

The Tigers are still a strong team, with Cam Rogers at the helm, the Tigers are still the main team that took the title two years ago.

The defence is still the focus of the team, with a little bit of sprucing up, they could become elite in 2020. Drafted Alfred Foster to pick up from Sam Randall as the pass rusher. Patrick Harper left under FA, so Bob Taylor and Freddie Boyle will compete.

CALIGARA BULLDOGS

The defending champions are still stacked with talent, but do they have the hunger after successive Crystal Bowl appearances? Jon Palmer is a great young head coach, who let’s his experts do their jobs. If there’s no need to tinker with a winning formula, they could well be biting their foes in the playoffs. Zack Slater (QB) to Seth Slater (WR) is still an extremely good combination.

HARTEFORD HAWKS

Last season was a progression for the mean green flyin’ machine. The Hawks went from 2-16 to 6-12. This year they will look to build on that siccess (9-9?). They are a balanced team, they will need either rookie QB Aaron Murphy or Dexter Williams to come good. If the defence is stronger, it should help even out the scores too. Veteran RBs Marshall Knight and Donovan Kelly were massive upgrades for the run game.

IOMAGH STEELERS

Iomagh were a disaster last season, going 2-16, with a couple of horrendous blowouts. Off-season trades were aplenty, and they were very active in the free agent market. Brandon Mullen and Kelvin Stewart (remember when he was the golden boy?) will compete for the starting role at QB. Thomas Linderholm returns from injury to help what was a leaky front line last term. Will do well do double their victory count from last year, though.

PFL CENTRAL 2020-21 PREVIEW

PFL CENTRAL: Adelphia Phoenix | Chakota Wasps | Oakland Ravens | Rochester Trojans

The PFL Central lost the Tallassea Oilers but gained the two-time Crystal Bowl winners Adelphia Phoenix in 2020. This will be a great line-up for a strong, competitive, division.

ADELPHIA PHOENIX

The Phoenix picked up quite the coup, picking up RB Kylian Floyd in the draft. He, along with Jamal Davies (first round pick in 2018), should mean that they will have replaced Marshall Knight. QB Matt Kelly shows know sign of ageing yet, and a good receiver core means the attacking force is strong.

The defence is still a worry. The line is good, with Blake and Dez Williams being particularly strong. The midfield is mixed, whilst the back four have been suspect for the last two seasons. 50-50 to make the playoffs.

CHAKOTA WASPS

With Trent Harris or Eric Chandler at the helm, the Wasps look hot on the offensive. Neil James is a standard RB and the line is good holding off the defence just enough. Defensively, they are hit and miss, Like Adelphia, this could cost them when it counts.

OAKLAND RAVENS

With a young,dynamic QB in Tayvon Coles (from Ohara) running this team, they should pound their enemies into submission. A tough team from top to bottom. I fancy them to win the division as the most balanced team.

ROCHESTER TROJANS

The Trojans took a chance with QB Josh Hennigan, and that could easily prove to be a good move. The Trojans will need to keep everyone around him healthy. Moving on from Ryan Bruce was a good idea, now they need to be ruthless in other areas. They won’t have enough to challenge for the division this year, but should not exactly be walkovers either.

PFL EAST 2020-21 PREVIEW

PFL EAST: Bristow Bears | Landor 96ers | Melborg Giants | New Chester Knights

The 2020-21 starts on Friday 18th September, with the champion Bulldogs hosting the Tigers in the big kickoff. The PFL East doesn’t have long to wait though, as they start on Sunday September 20th. League newcomers Bristow, who replaced the outgoing Tallassea Oilers have a difficult placement.

BRISTOW BEARS

The Bears have on paper a decent squad, with some PFL journeymen and great young players. Will this be enough to get the team in the playoffs? It is unlikely, but QB Brad Robinson is accurate and they inherited deep-ball threat Edjerious Jones and RB Lamar Hall give the team more than hope. Coaching could be the key to that fine line between success and failure for the Bears.

LANDOR 96ERS

The ‘Sixers have a tremendous defence, that will play havoc with ANY team’s gameplan. The Attacking options are going to be the key. Veteran QB Kurt Sierra is injury-prone, whilst WRs Robert Johnson and Asante Brown are not getting any younger. If the ‘O’ play strong this team could very well go all the way to CB 51.

MELBORG GIANTS

The Giants are still in a bit of a rebuild mode. QB Tom Tomkowski has not been the steal that some thought he would be. His accuracy improved last year, as his running stats went down. Their vocal home support the ‘G-Fence’ will need to carry this team somewhat.

NEW CHESTER KNIGHTS

The Knights are going to be there or thereabouts once again this season, aren’t they? Elijah Brooks will always make time to find people, the plethora of receivers always keeps the passing game good and defence honest. Veteran RB Chauncey Smith will have help in 2020-21.

The Knights have a good, young defence, lead by AMF Stephen Cooks and CMF Cooper Riley. Will battle with the 96ers for the division title, now Adelphia are in the Central.

Final week: Who needs what to happen?

As we approach the final weekend of the PFL regular season, there are a few things still to be settled as the 8 playoff spots will be claimed. Starting off in the PFL East, there’s potential for a three-way tie involving the Phoenix, Knights and 96ers. If the Phoenix beat the 96ers on Sunday, they will have the edge, based on divisional record. All three will qualify. If the Phoenix lose, they will be needing other results to go their way.

In the Central, the Wasps can confirm the no.3 spot if they beat the Ravens- who need to win to get in, along with the Sharks, Phoenix and/or Sharks losing! If the Wasps lose, as do the 96ers- they still get seed no.3.

Playoff picture- Week 19 one team eliminated

We are now down to fitting ten teams into the eight playoff spots, as the Trojans loss eliminated them fro playoff contention. There’s also been some shuffling around of playoff spots.

The Sharks moved out of the no. 8 spot and are now ‘in the running, along with the Oakland Ravens. Defending champs the Ballymore Tigers are back in the eight slot.

The 96ers and Wasps have swapped the 3 & 4, as the 96ers surprisingly lost to the Giants. Whilst the Knights win over the Phoenix moved them up over them. It’s all to play for next week.