Wild Card Week kicks off with an intriguing contest between apples and oranges, or in this case Bock Boys and Figs. In the five years since expansion, Thomas' Bock Boys have made the playoffs all five years, have won a Western Division title, and have won a League Championship. The Naughty Figs – by stark contrast – are making their very first playoff appearance following four years of futility.

Thomas' Bock Boys crept back into the playoffs as the No. 6 seed, becoming the first defending Super Bowl champion to return to the postseason tournament since the 2001 Irwin Hellions. Injuries have ravaged the champs down the stretch, and the Bock Boys finished with only one win over their final five games. Granted, thanks to a pair of ties in their past two games, the Bock Boys haven't lost a game in three weeks, either. Yet the playoffs are not built for ties. Luckily, Thomas knows a thing or two about winning close games when they count; two of their three playoff wins from a year ago were by a single point, including their Super Bowl VII victory. With Priest Holmes placed on the IR list, the pressure will be on Daunte Culpepper and Reuben Droughns to get the Boys from Bockville into the next round.

The Naughty Figs are the only Wild Card participants to have scored a win last week. That victory, however, came on the heels of three straight losses that ultimately kicked them out of the Eastern Division race. Regardless, the Figs are finally in the dance, and as the top wild card, nonetheless. Their playoff path is anything but ideal, however. In order to reach Jacksonville, the Figs would have to go through both Thomas and the Irwin Hellions – against whom they've gone a rather dismal 1-9 lifetime. That said, the Figs have the weapons in place this week to buck history. Quarterback Chad Pennington has returned to the huddle in grand fashion, and Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, and Fred Taylor are all capable of big games on the ground.

It took five years, but the two expansion clubs of 2000 will finally be playing in a meaningful game against each other. Thomas has all the experience of playing under pressure and winning, while the Figs are wading into uncharted waters. A playoff win over the defending league champions would finally crown the Figs as legitimate FLF contenders, while a Bock Boy victory would only feed Thomas' growing postseason mystique.

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The Abstract Machines host The Pimps in a wild card battle of choking franchises. Both club led their respective divisions for several weeks during the season only to have the titles slip away down the stretch. The Pimps actually have only two wins since Week 5, while the Machines went 3-3 over the season's final six weeks. Despite all of that, both clubs are a mere win away from 2004's Championship Week.

The Pimps shot out to a 5-0 record behind the strong play of David Carr, Corey Dillon, Shaun Alexander, and kicker Kris Brown. Carr and Brown have cooled considerably, leaving the heroics of Dillon and Alexander unsupported. After that hot start, The Pimps dropped six of their next eight, and even their final five wins came against non-playoff teams. The Pimps missed out on the postseason a year ago, but are fairly regular customers to Championship Week, having reached the penultimate round in each of their last four playoff appearances. They may need a big game from Dillon – their first-round pick and former long-time Machine – if they're to stretch that streak to five.

Despite last week's loss to P.W.O.P. and their subsequent concession of the Western Division title, the Abstract Machines have just completed the greatest regular season in franchise history. They have a franchise-best eight wins, which includes victories over four of the playoff teams. The additions of Curtis Martin, Tom Brady, and Duce Staley have revitalized a club that had only two playoff appearances in the past four seasons. Those players, in addition to Marvin Harrison and the Ravens defense, could send the Machines back to Championship Week for the first time since 2001.

The Pimps are dominating the lifetime series against the Machines, 7-3-1, which includes a 2001 Championship Week victory. Since that defeat, however, the Machines have gone 2-0-1 against their feathered friends from the East, including a 24-19 decision a month ago.

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Two playoff teams from a year ago meet to decide who picks first in next year's draft as Pirk's Wicked Oil Profiteer$ visit Jody's Colossal Waste of Time in Draft Bowl VIII. The C.W.O.T. will be making their first appearance in the Draft Bowl in their eighth season, becoming the last of the original franchises to do so. Pirk makes his first Draft Bowl appearance since 2000 and league-leading fourth overall.

The Profiteer$ had high hopes this season of building off of three consecutive Wild Card berths, but injuries took their toll early on and left Pirk wallowing below .500 all season. Steve McNair, Ahman Green, and Randy Moss all missed multiple games this season (with McNair ultimately being replaced by Byron Leftwich and Ben Rothlesberger). The Profiteer$ managed to regroup and finish the second half of the season with a 3-2-1 record, but still could not avoid a Draft Bowl appearance.

Jody suffered a franchise-worst ten losses in the regular season, which included a staggering six-game losing streak. Injuries played a major role in the defending Eastern Division champions demise, as Duce McAllister, Chris Brown, Steve Smith, Deshaun Foster, and Lamar Gordon all spent time on the sidelines (some were even lost for the season). A win could go a long way towards rebuilding confidence as well as the roster.

P.W.O.P. has historically fared very badly against the C.W.O.T., winning only two of ten career meetings. Yet one of those victories came earlier this season in Oil Town, and the C.W.O.T. haven't been able to win at home since opening week, leaving the fate of the No. 1 Draft Pick squarely up for grabs.

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