The first decade
of Fantasy League Football draws to a close this
weekend as the Anderson Brewmeisters meet the
Piana Raze in Super Bowl X from Dolphin Stadium
in Miami, Florida. The Eastern Division Champion
Brewmeisters throttled Jody's Colossal
Waste of Time last week while the Western Division
Champion Raze muscled past the Sims Stereco,
setting up the sixth interdivisional Super
Bowl and fourth between division champs.
Despite having 20 playoff games to their combined
credit, this will be the first ever playoff meeting
between the Raze and Brew Men. (They did meet
in the 2001 Draft Bowl, however.) Together, the
two franchises account for the first three Super
Bowl titles; Piana won in 1997 before Anderson
won it all in 1998 and – controversially
–
in 1999. On the heels of Anderson's second championship,
the league expanded to ten teams and implemented
its six-win playoff eligibility rule. In this
new "modern era" of the FLF, neither
the Raze nor the Brewmeisters have won another
title, although they each have a relatively recent
Super Bowl loss to show for their efforts.
The 2006 Brewmeisters, however, are poised to
be crowned the most dominant FLF team ever. Led
by LaDainian Tomlinson, Peyton Manning, and Brian
Westbrook, Anderson has been rewriting the league's
record books all season. They are the first club
to win 11 regular season games and would have
likely made it an even dozen if it weren't for
Jody's "Game of the Year" in Week 12. In 10 of
their 13 games, the Brewmen have produced a raw
score of 60 or more points, and they have scored
72 or more in their past three. Avenging their
only two losses on the season, Anderson comes
into the Super Bowl having just destroyed the
Stereco and C.W.O.T. by a combined score of 102-22.
The league simply can't hand Anderson the title
based on their season resumé, however,
which brings us to the Piana Raze. Piana came
within a game of getting to the Super Bowl last
year, and the front office made efforts in the
offseason to get them over the hump. Terrell
Owens and once-again Raze QB Marc Bulger were
brought in to bolster the offense, but Piana
still came out of the gates slowly, failing to
win any of their first three divisional games.
The Raze rebounded
to win the balance of their divisional schedule
and earn the franchise its fourth Western Division
title. While lacking the break-away ability of
the the Brewmeisters, Piana has been every bit
as productive in the win column down the stretch,
posting an identical 6-1 record since Neutral
Site Week (which, coincidentally, saw the Brewmeisters
top the Raze 55-48 in Idaho's Kibbie Dome).
The Raze (9-4-1) and Brewmeisters (12-2) bring
a combined 21 wins into the league's championship
game, the highest total since the Hellions (10-4)
and Pimps (11-3) brought 21 into Super Bowl V.
Let's see how the position matchups break down:
QUARTERBACK
With his commanding 19-point effort in last
week's victory over Jody, Peyton Manning has
once again catapulted to the top of the quarterback
scoring list. It was, however, his first double-digit
game since Week 9, as his hot start cooled off
in the second half. The Raze suffered a similar
– albeit much more dramatic – drop in production
from Marc Bulger, who has failed to score above
6 points in any of his past five starts. Rumors
are swirling that rookie Vince Young might even
be given the start, but even he's no Manning. Advantage:
Anderson
RUNNING BACKS
After an "off year" in terms of superstar
running backs last season, the Super Bowl is
thrilled to have three of the top four halfbacks
on display. LaDainian Tomlinson has been far
and away the best player on any field this season,
and he leads all scorers with a whopping 204
points. Piana's Larry Johnson is a distant second
with 135, and Anderson's Brian Westbrook is fourth
with 118. Piana – needing ever possible
point it can muster – might bench the retiring
Tiki Barber in favor of undrafted rookie and
goal line specialist Maurice Jones-Drew. Tomlinson
will be going for his tenth (tenth!) straight
game of 11 or more points. Advantage:
Anderson
RECEIVERS
Anderson entered the season with some of the
biggest names at the position, and Steve Smith
and Torry Holt have been solid. Donald Driver
has been a pleasant surprise, and all three wideouts
are in the Top 10. Piana has tinkered with the
receiver position more than any other, and it's
given landed him two of the top three point-scorers:
Reggie Wayne (No. 1) and Terrell Owens (No. 3).
Roy Williams was brought in midseason to shore
up the corps, but he's been DOA in the past three
weeks, scoring only 6 total points. Jericho
Cotchery could get the start, but it's ultimately
up to Wayne and Owens to find the endzone. Advantage:
Even
KICKER
This is certainly the Achilles' Heel of the
formidable Brewmeisters lineup. Ryan Longwell
was given the job in Week 7, and he's averaged
a paltry 4 points a game. He was shut out in
Championship Week last week, and is already off
to a bad start in Miami (scoring only a point
in Thursday Night's game). Piana counters with
Adam Vinatieri, who reaps the benefits of a very
productive Colts offense. Advantage:
Piana
DEFENSE
Anderson finally won the mid-season defensive
lottery, picking up the Chargers in Week 5. They
proceeded to post a double-digit number in seven
of ten starts for Anderson, including 21 last
week. Piana went through three defenses in 2006,
and their current Giants team is only 18th in
scoring. Advantage:
Anderson
back to
scoreboard
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