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Super Bowl XIII Preview
2009 League Championship Game

P.W.O.P. vs Piana Raze
(9 - 6)   (8 - 6 - 1)
series history: Piana leads 15-12
last meeting: Week 8
PIANA 40, at P.W.O.P. 20
postseason records:
P.W.O.P. 7-9, Piana 11-5
Record in Super Bowls:
P.W.O.P. 0-0, Piana 2-1
 

Western Division rivals Pirk's Wicked Oil Profiteer$ and the Piana Raze will meet up in Miami this weekend to determine the 2009 League Champion at Super Bowl XIII. Both came into the playoffs as wild cards, setting up just the third all-Wild Card Super Bowl in 13 years and first since 2002. The Piana Raze are also just the third No. 6 seed to make it to the final game, having crushed Thomas' Bock Boys and the Eastern Division champion Jody's Colossal Waste of Time to punch the franchise's fourth ticket to a Super Bowl. P.W.O.P. is making its first ever appearance in the league title game, becoming the last of the seven remaining original (1997) teams to make it to a Super Bowl. As the No. 4 seed, they downed the Abstract Machines at home before upsetting the Western Division champion Irwin Hellions last week to book their trip to Miami.

This means that the Profiteer$ would need to sweep a three-game slate against division opponents to win their first title. The Western Division was a monster this season, placing on five clubs into the playoffs while beating up on the weaker East all season long. (Need we remind you of the 5-0 Neutral Site Week sweep?) Pirk went an impressive 5-3 against the West in the regular season and has raised that to 7-3 in the playoffs. Piana, by contrast, went only 2-5-1 inside the division and finished dead last for the second consecutive season. That's all moot now, of course, and one of Piana's division wins came in Week 8 against these Profiteer$. That win snapped a three-game losing streak to P.W.O.P. and must certainly give them confidence heading into their third meeting of the year this week.
Super Bowl Appearances
by Franchise -- wins in ()
Jody
6 (0)
Anderson
5 (3)
Irwin
4 (3)
Piana
4 (2*)
Thomas
2 (2)
Machines
2 (1)
Sims
1 (1)
Pimps
1 (0)
P.W.O.P.
1 (0*)
Figs
0
* not including
Super Bowl XIII result

This also marks the first time that a Super Bowl features two clubs that missed the playoffs entirely in the season prior. The Profiteer$ and Raze finished as the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds, respectively, in 2008. The 2009 Profiteer$ only finished a game better, at 7-6, but jumped three spots in the final seeding. They jumped out to a strong 4-1 start and seemed prime to compete for their first division title, but they dropped five of their final eight and wound up just a game shy of the champion Hellions.

The Raze, meanwhile, saw a 2-1/2 game improvement from last season, despite being unable to move up in the Western standings. They benefited by going 4-1 against the weaker Eastern division, and they even avenged that one loss with the Championship Week victory over Jody. Despite entering the playoffs as a 6-6-1 team and as the final seed, Piana exploded to dominate Thomas and Jody by a combined score of 118-51. Their two-week playoff raw score of 158 points is the largest two-week total the league has seen all season. Can they keep it going for one more week? The Raze haven't won three straight in over two years.

The two coaches of these clubs go way back. Hotard Hall. 4th floor. Your Girlfriend Knows Where It Is. Like, Whoop, and stuff. And yet this will be the first playoff meeting between the two franchises. (They have met once in the postseason, with Piana beating Pirk in the 1999 Draft Bowl.) As per Super Bowl tradition, let's see how they match up.

QUARTERBACK

Of the nine highest-scoring quarterbacks in the league this year, four are in Miami this week. The production of the four is amazingly similar: P.W.O.P.'s Philip Rivers has tallied 133 points, Tony Romo has another 133, Piana's Matt Schaub has 128, and Ben Roesthlisberger sits at 127. That's a mere six points separating the four players. Of course, each team can only start one QB, and sometimes the coach's decision can be the wrong one. In Pirk's Wild Card victory over the Machines, Rivers got the start but was outscored by Romo 11-6; while in Piana's Championship blowout over Jody, a benched Rothelisberger outpointed Schaub 19-8. Just who gets the start this week is likely to be the toughest decision each coach will have to make. Advantage: even

RUNNING BACKS

Injury has all but crippled Pirk's running game this season. The Profiteer$ have adopted a run-and-shoot offense over the past four games, to obvious success. Rashard Mendenhall has been the lone halfback and has averaged nearly 7 points per game over that stretch. Piana counters with Maurice Jones-Drew, whose 126 points on the season is second only to Chris Johnson. MJD has also ran for 21 points in the two playoff games, and while his wingman for the Super Bowl (either Pierre Thomas or Knowshon Moreno) is a scant replacement for a healthy Michael Turner, the Raze still get the nod here. Advantage: Piana

RECEIVERS

To get the Super Bowl without much of a running game usually means you have a pretty good receiving corps, and the Profiteer$ have just that. Vincent Jackson, Marques Colston, and Dallas Clark are all in the top 10 in scoring, and Hines Ward and Tony Gonzales are not far behind. Clark has been a beast in the playoffs, scoring 5 touchdowns and 22 points in the past two weeks. The Raze also have some firepower at wideout, with Reggie Wayne and DeSean Jackson ranking 3rd and 4th, respectively, in receiver scoring. With Nate Burleson injured, Antonio Gates will fill out the starting lineup. The former C.W.O.T.-er has been consistent but not specatcular. Advantage: P.W.O.P.

KICKER

Pirk's Lawrence Tynes had the league's hottest foot in the first half of the season. And while he cooled off and was even replaced in a couple of games down the stretch, it was Tynes that booted the Profiteer$ into their first Super Bowl with a 9-point effort last week. That said, his understudy – Dan Carpenter – would have scored 11, so there's a decision to be made. Piana used three (!!!) transactions this season on kickers. Rod Bironas is their fourth starting kicker on the year, and – as luck would have it – his two best performances in a Raze uniform have come in the past two weeks (18 vs. Thomas; 10 vs. Jody). Advantage: Even

DEFENSE

P.W.O.P. drafted the Vikings defense with the fourth-overall pick in this year's draft, and they've certainly helped shore up a position that was a real liability in 2008. Yet despite being the sixth-best defensive unit on the season, the Vikings have been lackluster over the past three weeks, scoring 1, 9, and 2 points, respectively. Piana's Ravens squad has scored 10, 11, and 26 over that same period. What works in Pirk's favor, however, is that Minnesota plays the lowly Bears on Monday night, and it was against those Bears that the Ravens posted a 26 against just last week. If the Raze don't have a substantial lead after the weekend, there may be no way to hold off the Profiteer$ given the defensive buffet awaiting the Vikes on Monday night. Advantage: P.W.O.P.

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