Time to look at the National Conference now. While the American Conference had just 1 team at 3-0, and two teams 0-3, the National is quite the opposite. They have four undefeated teams and five winless ones.
Southeast Division
As good as the West has been over the last year plus, the Southeast has been even better so far in 1988. Tampa Bay was a wildcard in 1987, but led by QB Melvin Driggers (10-0 TD/INT), the Bandits have scored 127 points so far. That's 2nd most in the league and based on yardage, their offense is 2nd, defense 5th. The rest of the division, including last year's champ Jacksonville, is 2-1. The Bulls team stats are in the middle of the pack and they're fighting injuries at the moment. Orlando hasn't had a winning season since 1979, but that could change this year. The Renegades give up yards on defense (29th) but their offense ranks 9th. Florida boasts an 11th ranked offense and a 9th ranked defense as they try to overcome a growing injury list.
South Division
New Orleans seems determined not to go out in the wildcard round this year as they have started 3-0. The VooDoo have the 6th ranked offense and 4th ranked defense. Only two teams have allowed less than the 30 allowed by the VooDoo. Shreveport is 2-1 after finishing strong in 1987. The Steamer are already 2-0 in the division, though they've yet to play New Orleans. Shreveport's offense is ranked 15th, defense 7th. On one hand, Georgia is 0-3 and their 19 points is tied for the league's fewest. On the other hand, their opponents so far have a combined 8-1 record. The bad news for the Force? Their next 5 opponents are a combined 12-3. Birmingham has made the playoffs 6 years in a row but that streak is in jeopardy. The Stallions have had a tough schedule to start and they are hoping to get off the schneid tonight against the Generals.
Atlantic Division
Baltimore is one of two 3-0 teams in this division and the Stars have the top scoring offense in the league. Injuries are piling up but QB Jon Snow has 14 TD passes already, 7 to WR Justin Coffey. In yardage, their offense is 1st, defense second. Washington is also 3-0, though their combined scores against Charlotte/Pittsburgh pale in comparison to Baltimore against the same 2 teams. The Federals have injury problems of their own and their offense only ranks 16th. They do have the #1 defense though. Pittsburgh had a 1 point victory in Week 1 before getting blown out by Baltimore and Washington. The Stars and Federals have owned this division in recent years so the Maulers have a tough road ahead. It's difficult to tell what kind of team Charlotte has. The Hornets are 0-3, but the combined record of their opponents is 9-0. They only lost to Washington 19-7 but were obliterated by Baltimore 71-10. They were also beaten by Houston.
East Division
New York is 2-1, the only team in the East with a winning record. The Stars of NY are fresh off a convincing victory over New Jersey, and they have to be feeling confident this is finally the year someone other than the Generals wins the division. Their offense is 10th, defense 15th. New Jersey no longer looks like an automatic division winner as the Generals are playing bad football. Their offense is ranked 25th, defense 26th...yuck. Boston is 0-3 but it's not the defense's fault. That unit is ranked 12th but they have the 26th ranked offense and are tied for the league low in points scored. Philadelphia has some problems with injuries, scoring points and preventing points. Tonight's game against Charlotte looks like the last for Jaybo, as I finally found someone to take over his team like he asked me to.
