Wild Card Week kicks off with the 3rd-seeded Piana Raze hosting the 6th-seeded Thomas' Bock Boys in the first intradivisional playoff game since the 2003 Super Bowl. Amazingly, all five games of the 2004 playoffs were interdivisional affairs; the last postseason game featuring two clubs from the same division was that 2003 League Championship Game which pitted these very franchises against each other. Now, two years later, the Raze and Bock Boys meet again under the playoff lights, just a couple of rounds sooner for Wild Card Week 2005.

The Bock Boys haven't exactly terrorized the league since their Super Bowl VII victory, posting season records of 6-5-2 and 6-7. Those marks have been good enough, however, for Thomas to make consecutive postseason appearances as the No. 6 seed. The Bock Boys slide into this particular tournament having lost a league-worst five straight games, highlighted by last week's 48-0 embarrassment in Oil Town. To be fair, Thomas saw Daunte Culpepper, Priest Holmes, and Javon Walker all go down with season-ending injuries, and the replacements have been largely hit or miss.

The Piana Raze return to the playoffs after failing to make the field with a 6-7 mark last year. The Raze came within a single point of winning the Western Division last week and earning a first round bye, but the tie against Irwin managed to keep them above Anderson for the No. 3 seed. Piana has had the best closing month of all playoff teams, going 3-0-1 down the stretch. The sound running attack of Tiki Barber and Larry Johnson and the improving play of quarterback Trent Green are big reasons why. A glaring weakness, however, is in the receiving corps, where veteran Eric Moulds has been suspended for the week and youngster Kevin Curtis has managed just one catch over the past two games.

Recent history heavily favors the Raze in this one. Piana has won three straight against the Bock Boys at En Fuego Field, and the only two Thomas victories in the series over the past three seasons came by a combined 3 points. Yet Thomas may have an ace in hole for this one week against this one opponent: the Boys' Cowboys defense will be going up head-to-head against Trent Green and Larry Johnson on Sunday. If Piana's Kansas City duo can't protect the football, then the No. 6 seed could find itself advancing for the first time since 1999.

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The Abstract Machines and the Anderson Brewmeisters meet for the second time in as many games, this time for a Wild Card showdown at Saint Arnold Stadium. Last week, the Machines made a defiant stand at home, denying the visiting Brewmeisters an Eastern Division title while earning their own playoff berth with a 28-24 victory. Their reward? A trip to the same stadium where they saw their 2004 playoff run end in Championship Week.

The Machines were expected to build off of last season's success and contend for the Western Division title, but an 0-2-1 start to the new season put the damper on the that. The heroes from a year ago (Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis) broke down in 2005, putting most of the pressure on Tom Brady and the receivers to score points. Amazingly, Neil Rackers emerged as a point-producing stud, but he's now likely lost for the season, leaving the Machines without a kicker. The Ravens defense, meanwhile, is a ghost of its former self, but it came up huge in last week's win and is hoping to score a repeat performance.

The Brewmeisters have to be angry. They let a division title slip away on the final week of the season while suffering its worst performance of the year. LaDainian Tomlinson and the Brewmeister running game have been largely inconsistent week-in and week-out; one week he'll run for 18, the next for 5. Thankfully, Peyton Manning has been a rock down the stretch, scoring 9 or more points in each of his past five starts. Yet arguably the biggest obstacle in Anderson's quest to the Super Bowl is its own Lions defense, which has hit double-digit in scoring only once over their past six games.

This one should be entertaining, as the Machine-Brewmeister rivalry is a budding one in the FLF. Last season, the Machines rolled Anderson during Neutral Site Week before bowing to the Brew Krew during Championship Week. This season, the Machines once again scored the regular season victory and must now head back out to Saint Arnold Stadium for the immediate postseason rematch. Will the outcome be the same?

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Pirk's Wicked Oil Profiteer$ and the Sims Stereco are the only two franchises to have failed to make the playoffs in either of the past two seasons, so it seems fitting that they square off in this year's Draft Bowl. This will be P.W.O.P.'s second straight appearance in the "Lesser" Bowl game (and record fifth in nine league seasons), while Sims will be making only its second career appearance and first since 1998.

The Profiteer$ finished out their schedule with a record of 4-8-1 for the second straight year despite making some big moves in the offseason. Longtime Profiteer Randy Moss was dealt away in exchange for the Philly defense, but that's proven to be an underwhelming move at best. Rookie halfback Carnell Williams has had an admirable but inconsistent campaign, and veteran QB Brett Favre appears to be a shell of his former self. If nothing else, Pirk's confidence has been boosted thanks to a 2-2 month to close out the season.

The Stereco also finished the season 2-2, but those two wins came sandwiched between losing streaks of five and two-games. Sims' 4-9 record is their worst in a 13-game schedule, and they don't seem to be getting any better following their Super Bowl title: 6-7 in 2003; 4-8-1 in 2004; and now a half-game worse than that in '05. Granted, Sims lost two of its biggest weapons – Terrell Owens and David Akers – for extended weeks at a time. Mike Vick seems to be regressing as a quarterback, and the Cardinal defense certainly hasn't been intimidating.

Pirk one the lone contest between these two clubs this season, scoring a 33-17 Neutral Site victory in Week 7. Outside of that game in Odessa, however, P.W.O.P. 0-5-1 away from home. Sims, meanwhile, earned three of its four wins at home. How important can one game between last-place teams be? Two words: Reggie Bush.

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