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.
back to
scoreboard
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