The 2005 FLF Season reaches its pinnacle this week as the Abstract Machines meet Jody's Colossal Waste of Time in Super Bowl IX from Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The Wild Card Machines romped past the defending League Champion Irwin Hellions last week while the Eastern Division Champion C.W.O.T. sent the Piana Raze home from the Vortex. As a result, the Super Bowl will be an interdivisional affair for the second consecutive year and fifth time overall.

The Machines have taken a rather tumultuous pathway to Detroit, highlighted by having to win their final game of the regular season just to become playoff eligible. The Abstracts were humbled at times this year, not getting their first win until Week 4 and even going a meek 0-1-1 against the eventual Draft Bowl winning P.W.O.P.. Yet over the past three weeks in must-win games, they've beaten last year's Super Bowl participants three times (vs. Anderson, at Anderson, at Irwin) to earn their spot in the playoff finale.

Jody – just like Anderson a year ago – makes a return to the Super Bowl following a Draft Bowl victory one year earlier. Also a la the Brewmeisters, the C.W.O.T. used that Draft Bowl win to catapult them to an Eastern Division title, the fourth for the franchise. This also marks the fourth Super Bowl appearance for Jody, but only the second time a Division Champion C.W.O.T. squad has made it beyond Championship Week.

This will be the first-ever postseason meeting between the Machines and C.W.O.T., and just the tenth meeting overall. Yet despite the apparent unfamiliarity between the two clubs, there are numerous plotlines for Super Bowl IX. Regarding the 2005 season, Jody comes into this game surging, having won six of its last seven. The lone loss in that span was a Week 11 home defeat at the hands of these very Machines. That was the C.W.O.T.'s only home loss of the season, and it momentarily knocked them out of the driver's seat in the Eastern Division race. Jody was able to eventually win the crown, ironically, when the indiscriminate Machines then took down the division-leading Brewmeisters in Week 13.

Expanding the discussion to the nine-year history of the league, these two teams have combined for four Super Bowl berths, and, unfortunately, four Super Bowl losses. Jody is 0-3 in the Super Bowl, where its three opponents (Anderson, Irwin, and Sims) have combined for six of the nine League Championships awarded. Each of these opposing franchises, however, scored their first Super Bowl victory at the expense of the C.W.O.T. (Anderson in '98, Irwin in '00, Sims in '02), which is a stat that certainly seems to favor the Machines.

The Abstracts have much more limited experience in the Super Bowl. They have made only one other appearance, back in 1999, when they were crushed 40-6 by the wild card Brewmeisters. That club set dubious Super Bowl records for fewest points scored and largest margin of defeat, two marks that still hold strong today. Yet while they lack Jody's Super Bowl experience, no other team has played more playoff games in the past two seasons than the Machines (5, including this week's).

Obviously, one of these two franchises is destined to finally claim that first Super Bowl victory. Let's look at the position breakdown.

QUARTERBACK

Carson Palmer has been arguably the biggest surprise in the FLF this season. He was at the Draft Bowl last year, but sitting on P.W.O.P.'s bench rather than in Jody's huddle. He came over to the C.W.O.T. (via Thomas) in some offseason trades and became the full time starter once Marc Brunell went down for the season. In his last three starts – all C.W.O.T. victories, he has thrown for 15, 14, and 10 points. It's perhaps easy to overlook the Machines' Tom Brady while discussing premiere quarterbacks, but Brady has been the third most productive signal caller in the league this season (behind Palmer and Peyton Manning). Additionally, he has been lights out in the playoffs, scoring 13 and 14 points in the past two weeks. This matchup should be the best to watch. Advantage: Jody

RUNNING BACKS

The running backs to be featured are surprisingly low profile for a Super Bowl. Jody has five backs on his roster, but only two – Mike Anderson and Steven Jackson – are in the top 20 in point production. Anderson came up large in last week's win over Piana, scoring 11 points, but Jackson has scored only 6 in his past two starts. The Machines had an impressive duo in Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin a year ago, but now they primarily rely on Willie Parker to keep defenses honest. Parker, who is 19th in point production, has at least been consistent during the Machines' run to the Super Bowl, scoring 5 points in each of his last three starts. Advantage: Jody

RECEIVERS

This is where the Machines usually find their deepest advantage over their opponents. Marvin Harrison and Anquan Boldin are both in the league's top ten and have scored 20 and 16 points, respectively, in the playoffs. Jody, meanwhile, only has one true wideout (T.J. Houshmandzadeh) in the top 30, but does have another credible receiving weapon at tight end in Antonio Gates. Advantage: Machines

KICKER

Neil Rackers is arguably the Machines' MVP, hitting double-digits five times over the course of the regular season. Amazingly, his 7 points in each of the two playoff games ties his season low. Jody counters with Jeff Wilkins, who posted his second-best total of the season last week against Piana (11 points). Wilkins has also been more productive down the stretch, but it would be hard to bet against the league's top point producer at the position. Advantage: Machines

DEFENSE

Statistically for the season, Jody's Panthers squad has been notably better then the Machines' Ravens unit. The Panthers have eight double-digit performances on the season and three in excess of 20 points, including last week's 21-point outing. The Ravens, by contrast, only have seven double-digit games, but they've scored 20 or more in two of their last three games. Advantage: Jody

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