The American Conference playoff teams are all set, with seeding to be determined by Week 16 results. The National Conference is somewhat chaotic for the last 2 spots as 4 teams are trying to join Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans and New York in the playoffs. We'll look at the important National Conference games first.
Bandits 21 Renegades 17
Orlando had a chance to eliminate Tampa Bay with a victory but Melvin Driggers threw 3 TD passes in the first half, two to Thomas Whitley as the Bandits win 21-17. Orlando scored first on a 91 yard TD pass from Gregory Skidmore to David King before Tampa Bay went on a 21-0 run for a 21-7 lead at the half. Orlando scored 10 points in the second half to get within 21-17 and Skidmore had the Renegades driving for a late TD, getting as far as the Tampa 4 yard line before time ran out. Melvin Driggers threw for 383 yards for the winning Bandits while David King had 8 catches for 171 yards and 2 TDs for Orlando.
Blazers 18 Hornets 3
Florida won a FG kicking contest 6-1 as neither team moved the ball very well today. There were only 401 total yards in this game, so nobody had big stats except Gerald Hinton and his 6 FGs. It was an important win for Florida though, as the Orlando loss gives the Blazers sole possession of first place and a playoff elimination game on Sunday Night Football in Week 16 against Tampa Bay.
Maulers 28 Force 7
Pittsburgh QB Will Allison tossed 3 TD passes, 2 in the second half as the Maulers broke open a 7-7 game in the second half to win their 9th game in a row, 28-7 over Georgia. Allison also threw 2 INTs but the Maulers ran for 210 yards and were a perfect 3 for 3 in the red zone. Georgia WR John Huynh had 92 receiving yards, breaking his 3 game streak of at least 100 yards.
Federals 12 Invaders 11
"That's why they play the games". Football games don't always go as expected, hence the famous quote and the Washington vs Oakland game certainly did not go as expected. Robert Sullivan ran for 41 yards and a TD, adding 104 receiving yards but the rest of the Federals offense took the day off. Washington did get out to a 10-0 lead that Oakland cut to 10-6 at the half. The Federals got a safety late in the 3rd qtr for a 12-6 lead, and Oakland later added a FG to cut the deficit to 12-9. Late in the 4th, Oakland was driving for a possible tying or leading score when Andrew Moreno threw an INT deep in Federals territory. Washington took over but they couldn't get out of the end zone and the Oakland safety saw them now trail 12-11. Oakland got the free kick but the drive stalled at the Oakland 44, then after a 3 and out, the Invaders final drive also stalled at the Oakland 44 and Washington escapes Oakland with their #1 seed barely intact.
VooDoo 35 Stallions 16
Bruno Wilson and the VooDoo had the offense working today as they tune up for the playoffs. Wilson threw for 323 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT and had 204 yards of support from the rushing attack as New Orleans was 3/4 in the red zone scoring TDs. Birmingham also had 4 red zone trips but had just 1 TD and 3 FGs. Eric Duncan caught 2 of Wilson's 3 TD passes and the ball was spread around to several different skill players so nobody had a standout stat game.
Bulls 17 (NY) Stars 10
New York and Jacksonville played to a 10-10 tie in the first half and the score remained the same until early in the 4th, when Jacksonville QB Joseph Serio threw a 4 yard TD pass to Charles Ayers for a 17-10 lead. New York's last 4 possessions after the TD went punt, punt and 2 turnovers on downs. The Stars could have been in great position for a playoff bye with a win, but they only scored 10 points on 4 red zone trips.
Gold 27 Stars 19
Denver had 445 offensive yards and QB Andrew Brewer completed 22/25 passes for 274 yards and 2 TDs as the Gold defeat Baltimore in an interconference battle of wildcard teams. It was a back and forth game with 3 early lead changes before Denver pulled away in the 4th quarter, thanks to a pair of Jon Snow interceptions. Denver was led by Brian Thornton's 71 rushing yards with a TD and 6 catches for 90 yards.
Storm 28 Gamblers 26
This was a battle for home field advantage and Portland came out on top in an entertaining back and forth game. Portland QB Oscar Willis only threw for 187 yards but he had 4 TD passes, 3 in the 2nd qtr. Those TD passes went to 4 different receivers and the offensive leader for the Storm was Timothy Roquemore, with 137 yards rushing. Houston QB Tony Dean tossed the game's first TD pass and the game's last TD pass, as part of his 341 yard passing day but there was too much Portland scoring in between Dean TD passes for the Gamblers to win the game. Jett Black caught 11 passes for 122 yards in the loss.
Panthers 33 Express 6
Michigan out gained Los Angeles 464-108 as the Panthers cruise to the victory as they prepare for the playoffs. William Mauriello threw for 355 yards and 2 TDs while Walter Simmons had a double triple with 113 rush yards and 128 receiving. Michigan had the ball nearly 43 minutes and was a blistering 12/21 on 3rd down conversions.
SaberCats 34 Hawaiians 0
San Jose QB Jake Plummer threw 3 TD passes and 3 INTs and the offense lost 2 fumbles but Honolulu turned it over 4 times themselves, as the SaberCats shutout Honolulu. WR Mark Hsu caught 2 of Plummer's TD passes, 8 in all for 153 yards but the story was the San Jose ground game. They had 324 yards as a team, led by Rodney Richardson's 23 for 170 and William Smalling's 16 for 82.
Showboats 41 Gunslingers 10
Memphis QB David Allen completed 22/25 for 327 yards, 3 TD and an INT as the Showboats nearly double the San Antonio offensive output in a playoff tune up. The Gunslingers tried to keep up in the first half but the Showboats had long TD drives the first 3 times they had the ball and eventually wore down San Antonio.
Outlaws 27 Wranglers 16
The battle for the #1 pick was "won" by Arizona as Oklahoma won the actual game and will pick 2nd in the upcoming draft. Dale Davis ran for 141 yards for Arizona but Zachary Kinkead was 12/33 and 3 INTs and Oklahoma got 2 TD passes from John Crisp. The Wranglers out gained Oklahoma 355-234 but lost the turnover battle 4-1 and the Outlaws took advantage. Oklahoma scored 2 touchdowns in the final 3 minutes, a Crisp 80 yard TD to Steve Haywood and a 23 yard run by Kevin Reeves to turn a 16-13 deficit into victory.
Generals 34 Breakers 10
Former Arizona QB Ernest Simmon was recently signed by New Jersey and he got the start today against Boston's tough pass defense. He wasn't great but he did finish 22/31, 188 yards and 2 TDs with 0 INTs and Sam Beckett ran for 122 yards and a TD to lead the Generals to victory.
Thunderbolts 17 Wheels 10
Cleveland benched struggling QB Michael McGowan for veteran Martin Greene but it did not spark the offense. The Thunderbolts won anyway by holding Detroit under 200 total yards and scoring a defensive TD on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Timothy McKenzie.
Blitz 25 Sun 6
Jay Kinder ran for 106 yards and Ronald Brown tossed 2 TD passes to David Karim as Chicago defeats Southern California today. The Blitz improve to 9-5-1 on the season but play in the wrong conference for playoff consideration this year. The Blitz defense held the Sun to 184 yards of offense.
Bell 16 Steamer 10
Philadelphia QB Robert Hernandez was 20/29, 184 yards and an early TD pass to James Jones and the Bell added 3 Robert Albertson FGs to post a 16-10 win over Shreveport. The Bell ran for 149 yards in breaking their 4 game losing streak and the defense limited the Steamer to 209 offensive yards.
