1) Latrobe Brewers (11-2, 1277.56 pts) Calling the Brewers number one is an understatement. They are far and away the best team in the LFFL and are on an 11 game winning streak after dropping their first two decisions all the way back in September. Leading the Brewers is cyborg quarterback Peyton Manning who has put winning the LFFL championship his top priority (right after shattering Marino’s touchdown record). This team is strong everywhere though, Manning at QB, Ward and Muhammad at WR, Droughns, McGahee and Taylor at RB, Wiggins at TE, Longwell kicking, and the Indy defense which surprisingly scores points. This team is on cruise control and has to be odds on favourite to win the Leight Cup at Leight Bowl II.
2) Indiana Ignition (9-4, 1190.78 pts) This is a quiet, sneaky team. Owner Ryan Alexander is a quiet owner, rarely posting messages or trash talk, and hitting the free agent market and waiver wire sparsely. Where you do hear from him is in the win column. This team wins games, it’s that simple. While in total points scored they are down by a weeks worth of points to Latrobe, they have sewn up the second playoff seed and are in fair position to make a run at the Leight Cup. Questions though remain at QB, Bulger is injured and Penningtion is healthy now, but who knows for how long. Having an Indy receiver doesn’t hurt though, and neither does having Edggerin James pounding the ball home. What could have been a disaster, the loss of Priest Holmes, was softened when Indiana acquired Derrick Blaylock in a trade with Koppel. This team can go either way any week though, and they are a long way from saying they are the best chance to upend Latrobe.
3) Koppel Koonhunters (7-6, 1146.38 pts) Don’t think the loss of Randy Moss hurt the Koonies? Ask owner Kurt Presnar who saw his team fall from the top echelon of the league to the middle of the pack when the best receiver in football went down. However, Koppel has bounced back, and while losing this past week to an Edinburg team putting up a rare strong effort, they remain in the hunt and on paper are one of the better teams out there. Culpepper is the heart of this team, and a healthy Moss could prove to be trouble for any opponent. Westbrook has proven to be a threat finally at RB after starting the season very slow, and the pickup of Nick Goings has proven to be valuable. However, it would be fair to question the team’s strategic team management when a few weeks ago Koppel traded away Priest Holmes’ stud of a backup, Derrick Blaylock, for Chris Chambers and a swap of defenses. Giving the most important backup in football away to your #1 competitor while you are both jockeying for playoff position in exchange for a Miami player is probably not best decision ever. It goes right up there with the Indians selling the island of Manhattan for 27 dollars with of beads and trinkets. Anyway, Koppel looks ok right now, and could make a push, provided they make the playoffs.
4) Akron Assault (7-6, 1089.83 pts) Two words: Antonio Gates. Akron gets the production of a wide receiver from their tight end every week, giving them an edge that has helped them stay above .500. The rebirth of Drew Brees hasn’t hurt either, and they do have an Indy receiver too. However, their running backs are a little underwhelming, considering the cool down of Thomas “Tom” Jones, and the benching of Lee Suggs (although that’s not unusual). The New England defense though is another key puzzle piece for this team that has playoff hopes. Their play in these final weeks could well determine a game or two. If this team does have a weak link it is the existence of underachieving Cleveland Browns players. Phil Dawson is only a good kicker when you consider accuracy, and Lee Suggs is not the man you want backing up your running backs should an injury or act of terror occur. Surely there is a better use of roster space than carrying former Brown Quincy Morgan. That said, this team is not bad. They’re not great. But they’re not bad either. A middle of the pack team, they could emerge as leader, but it will take a little luck and a lot of points.
5) Allentown Iron Men (7-6 1016.28 pts) Defending league champion Allentown sits upon a bubble so large, it stretches as far as the eye can see. After starting strong they began to fizzle mid season thanks to inconsistent quarterback play, and poor wide receiver production. Thanks to a couple of trades though they have shored up the quarterback and wide receivers at the cost of knocking their famous running back corps down a couple pegs. For this team it has been feast or famine all year, producing high scoring wins and low scoring defeats. Consistency has been lacking from this club and their record shows it. However, after laying a whooping to arch-rival Prospect this week, this team feels recharged and excited at the potential for a run at the Leight Cup, which would be their second in as many years. Quarterback Plummer can break open a game when he isn’t playing in the snow or throwing four picks, and of late the wide receivers look to be this team’s strength. TO is flying high, Chad Johnson is producing points, and Jerry Porter is a legitimate threat now that Propect’s Ronald Curry is likely out for the remainder of the season. Running back is a little dicey for the Iron Men though, Steven Jackson, Marshall Faulk, Chris Brown and Duce Staley have all been bitten by the injury bug, and who will start will come down to who will actually dress and play. Health is a major concern. For the second year Allentown has the best kicker in football, this year with Adam Vinatieri making GM Todd Leight look like the master at picking kickers. Also, a resurgent Tampa Bay defense is important to this team’s chances. While they are not as stacked as other teams in the league, they do have the most upside for breakout games that can crush opponents. The fact that they have nothing to lose makes them a dangerous team, one that may cause headaches for someone, should they qualify for the playoffs.
6) Prospect Pioneers (6-7 1079.77 pts) While still in playoff contention, this team has some serious problems. Their “star” QB, Steve McNair has been talking retirement, one of their top WRs is out for the year, their top RB is still down with and ankle injury, and their best player right now, Kevin Jones, was acquired not by GM Dan Coulter, but by league commissioner Todd Leight who managed the Pioneers while team leadership staged a 2 game walk out protest. With the exception of 2 of 3 of their QBs and their strong Philly defense, this team is without a 3 digit scorer. That spells inconsistency, and that spells trouble. This team can still make the playoffs with some help, but the question is, do they even want to make the playoffs, as an early exit is all but certain. With the juggernaut that is Latrobe out there, and forces such as Indiana, Koppel and even Akron, the bottom playoff spots might be better served if they were represented by teams that could actually make a run at the top. Prospect may want to start considering their for draft next year, rather than their starting roster in the next couple weeks, because the way they’re going, drilling holes in a boat to let out the water that’s coming in is not the way to right a sinking ship.
7) Chewton Champs (6-7 1020.33 pts) Chewton, like Prospect, is still technically in the hunt for a playoff spot, but they need lots of help. Their QB is as solid as they come with McNabb, and the WRs have a lot of upside with Wayne, Mason, Rod Smith, and Drew Bennett can explode providing Volek throws to him. Also Julius Jones is the hottest back in football right now, and Ahmad Green is spotty, but usually there. Team weaknesses are kicker and defense, places that do make a difference. Of all the sub .500 teams Chewton is the best and would probably fare better than Prospect, should they make the playoffs. However, it appears that Chewton’s revival is coming a couple weeks too late, and key losses have put them in a position that even while they may be strong, they have too many losses. However, Chewton can play spoiler this week to Prospect, so at the end of the day, someone is going to be in ok shape, and someone will be definitely hoping for the best out of the loser’s bracket.
8) Edinburg Epidemic (5-8 1018.36 pts) Edinburg is out of playoff contention, and has been for quite a while. However, they certainly complicated things last week with their beating of Koppel. This team is a little better than their record indicates, certainly their running back say so. However, they’ve been plagued by inconsistent play and a lack of team management. Next week they face a solid Indiana squad in a meaningless game, as the Ignition are solidly in 2nd place and the Epidemic are solidly in 8th place. The best each team can hope for is a high scoring affair to pad their total points scored in order to gain respectability.
9) Ellwood Dishsoaps (4-9 974.23 pts) Ellwood is also out of the playoff hunt, but is in ok shape to avoid being in last overall. While they boast two of the most excellent defenses with Pittsburgh and Baltimore, the great Brett Favre and Curtis Martin, this team has lacked the points needed to get wins on a consistent basis. Clinton Portis only decided to start scoring last week, and carrying two players on their roster who are on IR hasn’t helped either. However, Ellwood, for all its’ flaws, is not as bad as Eastbrook.
10) Eastbrook Mooncrickets (3-10 954.23 pts) One of only 2 teams to have yet cracked 1000 points this season, Eastbrook is very simply a terrible team. On paper this team should be much better. However, they their record says otherwise, having collected 10 losses already. Starting Joey Harrington has proven disastrous, and losing Tomlinson for the majority of the season was just too much for this team to take. While Tomlinson is back, the damage has already been done, and this team is in dire straits. Poor team management doomed this team from the beginning, but a clear lack of understanding by the ownership was demonstrated throughout the season by the making of questionable trades and less than intelligent starting lineups. Also, Eastbrook’s failure to address their problems at defense and kicker has cost them games. Those two positions were clearly overlooked and could have been the source of many lost points. This team now is taking a serious look at how this season has gone in hopes of making changes that will allow them to move forward next year and avoid the pitfalls that have sunk them this year.
