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

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 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.

PFL Draft 2020

PFL University Graduates | Players Draft 2020

The first round selections for the 2020 PFL Draft took place on Friday 5th June in the city of Chakota.

There were a few trades, including the number two and number five pick, but the teams picked mostly as predicted.

Michago’s highly rated End Tony Boswell was selected first by the Iomagh Steelers. He is expected to bring an intensity and pass rush that has been lacking for the steel men.

Next up, new entrants the Bristow Bears (replacing Tallassea Oilers) traded their selection to the Harteford Hawks for their bookend Lock (Offensive Tackle) Paul Ortiz. This is Ortiz’s third team in only four seasons! With that selection, the Hawks picked End Eugene Webber from Alberta. Quick and great in pursuit, he is a great addition for the Hawks.

The Eregon Eagles boosted their forward line with Sam Grayson, a Lock (Offensive Tackle) from Stamford. He will be expected to immediately replace retired veteran Reggie Cobb.

Melboro surprised a few in the fourth pick on day one, they needed a good running back and it was between Oakland’s Eric Foster and Granada’s Kylian Floyd. The Giants thought that Foster’s running style suited them best so selected him. This meant that the Adelphia Phoenix were immediately on the phone to Harteford, who held the no. 5. After agreeing a swap of first round picks and a few further later picks, Adelphia held the number five pick and chose Kylian Floyd. They now have two good ball carriers in the backfield.

Another Granada graduate went next, as Winger Andre Peters was chosen by the San Andreas Sharks. Lock Mike Sanders from Alberta followed, by the Rochester Trojans.

The Ballymore Tigers boosted their ageing midfield core with Madison’s Alfred Foster, before the New Chester Knights used their acquired pick from the Ravens to get lineman Marcus McDougal (Oakland State) and then their next pick was End Harrison Walters (O’Connell).

The Hawks picked at 12, acquired in  the deal with the Phoenix. Granada’s QB Aaron Murphy was their choice. Another first-round QB to try and turn the team around.

Selection thirteen was Clementine’s Guard Kyrie Gibson, who will be spending his days blocking for the San Angelo Miners. Gibson is a hot-headed but skilled lineman. Another lineman followed at 14, where the Hallas Stars chose Cody Jackson to block for Chase Hand.

The Wasps and champion Bulldogs closed out the first round. Chakota Wasps picked DB Nate Hanks out of Oakland State’s defensive backfield. He can play anywhere in the back four spots.  The Caligara Bulldogs chose Ohara’s outstanding outside Midfielder Jerious Faulk, who they will be very pleased to have got at the end of the first round. A year ago, he was projected as a potential top five pick by some experts.

The Complete First Round:

#	Team	Player	Pos	University	Notes
1	Steelers	Tony Boswell	DE	Michago
2	Hawks	Eugene Webber	DE	Alberta	From BEARS
3	Eagles	Sam Grayson	L	Stamford
4	Giants	Eric Foster	RB	Oakland
5	Phoenix	Kylian Floyd	RB	Granada	from HAWKS
6	Sharks	Andre Peters	WR	Granada
7	Trojans	Mike Sanders	L	Alberta
8	Tigers	Alfred Foster	MF	Madison
9	Knights	Marcus McDougal	G/L	Oakland State	From RAVENS
10	Knights	Harrison Walters	DE	O’Connell
11	96ers	Darren Roberts	QB	Eregonia State
12	Hawks	Aaron Murphy	QB	Granada	From PHOENIX
13	Miners	Kyrie Gibson	G	Clementine
14	Stars	Cody Jackson	OT	Ohara
15	Wasps	Nate Hanks	DB	Oakland State
16	Bulldogs	Jerious Faulk	AMF	Ohara

Playoff picture after Week 17

With three games each to go (all divisional match-ups), there are eleven teams in contention for the eight playoff spots.

The division champions all get a home game. The next best four teams will complete the bracket. Rankings, similarly to the NFL are by record. In the PFL Central it looks like the Ravens and Trojans are both requiring to win out- they face each other in week 19. The Wasps and Bulldogs have already both secured the division titles in the Central and North, respectively.

In the West, the Miners and Stars are equal at 11-4. The Sharks cannot win the division, as tiebreakers already head against them.

The PFL East has three strong teams. a few weeks ago, the Phoenix and 96ers were jostling for top spot. Now, the Landor Knights are right up there at 9-6, equal with the Phoenix. The 96ers have a one game lead. All play against one another, so it will be an interesting climax to the season.

 

PFL Half-season report card

PFL 2019-20 Half-season report card

by Ryan Sollis

After ten weeks of action, everyone has completed nine games in league play. We have graded all 16 teams’ progress to date:

PFL EAST

Landor 96ers (6-3) – B+

The 96ers have been a great defensive team, led by DE Vin Marshall, who has become an elite pass rusher. The offence is still good, but there are signs that veteran QB Kurt Sierra is perhaps coming to the finish line sooner rather than later.

Crystal Bowl XLIX – Tigers claim win in defensive showpiece

Crystal Bowl XLIX (49) | PFL Championship 2018-19

1st Quarter:

Unloved, unnoticed and irreplaceable: The story of the Long Snapper

PFL features | The Long Snapper

Hands up who knows who is the Long Snapper for the Ballymore Tigers?  Anyone? No? Um, how about for the champion Landor Knights? Still no? Well, meet the position where fame is not sought, if you’re getting attention, you may be doing it wrong. Welcome to the world of the most unheralded position in Football. I give you the Long Snapper.

It wasn’t even considered a proper position, deserving of a specialist roster spot until the 1990s. Yep. The backups often got a roster spot on their ability to long snap. The teams started taking in more seriously after some key games, where missed field goals and extra points had been attributed to botched snaps. one by one they reserved a roster spot for someone who could specialise in getting the ball to the punter and to the holder on place kicks. Nowadays it is an accepted position, but is it respected?