Monday, August 29, 2022
A calm day, perfect for trying to analyze the European League of Football standings and playoff picture!
The Hamburg Sea Devils (10-1)
are in the four team ELF playoffs
The Berlin Thunder (7-4) are still in the Wild Card hunt.
The Vienna Vikings (10-1) are also
part of the 2022 ELF playoffs
The Tirol Raiders (7-4) and the Frankfurt Galaxy (7-4) still have convoluted playoff hopes.
The Barcelona Dragons (8-3) are
another playoff club
The Dragons are guaranteed a playoff spot no matter what happens next weekend by virtue of their two wins over the Rhein Fire (7-4). While the top two seeds in the playoffs are still up for grabs between Hamburg and Vienna, the Dragons are locked into the #3 seed.
The Fire are the fourth and final squad vying for that fourth and final 2022 ELF playoff berth during the upcoming final weekend of the regular season.
WEEK 14 ELF SCHEDULE
Conference Champions in Blue
Possible Wild Card Teams in Red
Hamburg Sea Devils (10-1) at
Barcelona Dragons (8-3)
Tirol Raiders (7-4) at
Berlin Thunder (7-4)
Vienna Vikings (10-1) at
Wroclaw Panthers (4-7)
Leipzig Kings (3-8) at
Rhein Fire (7-4)
Stuttgart Surge (0-11) at
Frankfurt Galaxy (7-4)
Cologne Centurions (2-9) at
Istanbul Rams (1-10)
The Seeding and games, for now, are:
#4 Wild Card Tirol Raider (7-4)
at
#1 Hamburg Sea Devils (10-1)
#3 Barcelona Dragons (8-3)
at
#2 Vienna Vikings (10-1)
But lots can still happen this weekend . . .
The Hamburg Sea Devils path
to the #1 Seed
I'll translate each club's road to the playoffs based on this coming weekend's possible results.
The Sea Devils easiest path to the #1 seed is to beat the Barcelona Dragons this weekend.
If the Sea Devils lose a second time this season, they could still get the #1 seed if the Vienna Vikings lose to the Wroclaw Panthers.
A Sea Devils' loss and a Vikings' win spells a home game as the #2 seed vs. the Dragons.
The Vikings can still clinch
the #1 seed if . . .
They beat the Wroclaw Panthers and the Barcelona Dragons beat the Hamburg Sea Devils. If either of those two outcomes do not materialize, the the Vikings are the #2 seed playing at home against the Barcelona Dragons.
The Barcelona Dragons are
locked into the #3 seed
The only question is will they open the playoffs at Hamburg or at Vienna, whichever is the #2 seed.
Then there's the Wild Card race for the #4 seed . . .
The Tirol Raiders simply need
to beat the Berlin Thunder
They already own the tie breaker vs. the Rhein Fire.
The Raiders have outscored all of their opponents this season by a total of +162 points. The Fire have played much closer games outscoring their opponents by only +35 points.
The Raiders have the least convoluted path to the Wild Card spot.
The defending ELF Champion
Frankfurt Galaxy need help
A win over the 0-11 Stuttgart Surge is almost a foregone conclusion and is more than likely, but they also need the Berlin Thunder to beat the Tirol Raiders.
Additionally, the Galaxy (+115) would need to maintain their point differential lead over the Berlin Thunder (+66) and the Rhein Fire (+35) which should be no problem.
They also have a fairly simple, straight forward road to the postseason but need help.
This is getting crazier . . .
The Berlin Thunder have two possible paths to the Wild Card.
Path #1 is to for the Thunder to beat the Tirol Raiders while the Frankfurt Galaxy lose to the Stuttgart Surge and the Rhein Fire lose to the Leipzig Kings.
Path #2 is to beat the Tirol Raiders and then win the tie breaker as the Thunder (+66) would somehow, incredibly nose out the Galaxy (+115) and/or the Fire (+35).
I think that neither path to the playoffs is in the realm of reality for the Thunder.
The Rhein Fire's two paths
are also a stretch
The Fire's Playoff Path #1 is to first beat Leipzig, then have Berlin beat Tirol and win the tiebreaker with these current totals: Fire (+35), Thunder (+66) and Galaxy (+115).
Rhein's Path #2 starts again by beating Leipzig but this time the Raiders beat the Thunder. Then amazingly the Fire (+35) going on a Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland scoring spree to win the tie breaker over the Raiders (+162).
Though still mathematically alive, realistically both the Berlin Thunder and the Rhein Fire are done regardless of winning or losing their final games this weekend.
Any Math Majors in the group?
Work continued today evaluating
the possible Kicker/Punter for
our Brazil Onças National Team
The videos that I have breaking down prove that there are some excellent players in Brazil with strong legs. Fortunately for the team, the Brazilian norm is that one player handles both chores.
This lone selection for a single Kicker/Punter will be a tough one.
