1. Birmingham Predators (15-1) – No. 1 Seed, Empire Conference Key Wins: W2 – @ Orlando Rockets (14-2) – 13-10; W10 – Orlando Rockets (14-2) – 44-17; W12 – New York Marauders (11-5) – 34-14; W13 – Michigan Stags (13-3) – 33-3 They are loaded with talent and have dominated all-year long. The Predators have stomped top-tier teams and with that have to be the heavy favorites to win it all this year. They rank best in the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense as well as having by a large margin the most sacks and allowing the second fewest sacks this year. They don’t have any blatant holes a team can easily exploit. Pittsburgh did beat them this year, so it is possible, it just is very, very difficult. 2. Orlando Rockets (14-2) – No. 4 Seed, Empire Conference Any other year, Orlando would once against be the top seed in the conference with a first round bye, clearly as favorites to be the champion, but, they have to settle for a wild card spot and first round game because the Predators were just better than them this year, sweeping them twice, once in blowout fashion. Orlando is very deep though. Even with many backups in the final week of the season, they still blew out Atlanta and ended their playoff hopes. The Rockets are always a threat. 3. Michigan Stags (13-3) – No. 2 Seed, Metropolitan Conference Up until their final game of the season the Michigan Stags had very little to be disappointed with, but that unexpected loss to Carolina cost them home field advantage. Still, they are 13-3 and are very well-rounded. The last few weeks, they may have found themselves their best option are quarterback too. Moving away from Zach Collaros may be risky, but he had not stepped up like the team needed him to in the playoffs the last few years. Dominique Davis performed very well and is a much more explosive option to accompany a very strong running game and dominant defense. Michigan isn’t going to just play it save, it’s high-risk, high-reward. 4. San Diego Diablos (13-3) – No. 1 Seed, Metropolitan Conference San Diego is this year’s surprise team, going from worst in their division last season to 13-3 with homefield advantage in the Metropolitan Conference. With that No. 1 seed, it might be a bit controversial to see them rank below Michigan, but while the Diablos’ success was earned with a tremendously strong defense and great season by running back Alex Collins, they had one of the easiest schedules in the league with no truly impressive victories over opponents with winning records. Add in Trevone Boykin’s legal troubles forcing the Luke Falk era to start a bit earlier than desires and they could be a vulnerable team. With that said, Falk has played very, very well, but rookies are just unpredictable in the playoffs. 5. New York Marauders (11-5) – No. 2 Seed, Empire Conference New York can be inconsistent, but they are high-risk, high-reward everywhere around on their team. They will get a huge boost to the defense for the playoffs as well with the return of Eric Reid fully healthy. He missed most of the season, but even after being cleared he sat out most games to get fully healthy, and he is now, which should really help their 24th-ranked pass defense. Offensively, the Marauders have a lot of weapons we all know of. Their offensive line struggled with some interior youth early in the season, but they have gotten better as of late. The Marauders have a lot of ways they can win with Jacquizz Rodgers, Stefon Diggs, Brandon Coleman and Will Tye all as weapons, but if Vad Lee struggles with his accuracy, as he does a lot, it would be a disappointing postseason for them. 6. Nashville Renegades (11-5) – No. 3 Seed, Metropolitan Conference Like San Diego as a division winner, the Renegades don’t have too many notable victories, but they played in a remarkably competitive and tough division and have been battle tested week in and week out. The mid-season addition of Tyreek Hill has also payed huge dividends for the Renegades as well. Their key to success still is on the legs of Jordan Howard, but the Renegades have explosive players and a confident A.J. McCarron, who is no longer looking over his shoulder at an erratic owner. The Renegades ownership has calmed down a lot and the team seems to have gotten into a nice groove because of it. 7. Pittsburgh Forge (11-5) – No. 5 Seed, Empire Conference Pittsburgh has had a few duds this year, but they are the only team that can say they beat the Birmingham Predators this season. Pittsburgh yet again has the league’s best passing offense and that is what leads them. They are average at best everywhere else, but Jon Jennings will put points up and football is a pretty simple game where all you need to do to win is score more points as the other team. They do that. 8. Boston Dragons (9-7) – No. 6 Seed, Empire Conference Boston is never sexy, but that is their M.O. now. They just grind opponents down and beat them without people really understanding why. They are middle of the road in every ranking, but together, the team is solid. The whole is better than the sum of its parts. 9. New Orleans Nightmare (9-7) – No. 4 Seed, Metropolitan Conference New Orleans for a second year in a row picked up a lot of steam heading down the stretch into the playoffs, but a Week 16 loss at Louisville really almost cost them everything. They lucked out and still made the playoffs despite the very disappointing outing, but they Nightmare can score and have a very strong running game that grinds opponents down. They are a team set up for postseason success. 10. Oakland Odyssey (9-7) – No. 5 Seed, Metropolitan Conference After a miserable start to the season owner Jay Amado was about ready to just give up on everything, despite the Odyssey being an expansion team, but his overreacting to the losses ended and he just focused on getting some different pieces. The team came together strong at the end of the year. Their success was partially aided by having a schedule without many strong teams, but they did stun San Diego late in the year and closed out in a lose and go home game with a win over Minnesota. 11. Los Angeles Stars (8-8) – No. 6 Seed, Metropolitan Conference Los Angeles limps into the playoffs, but still have to be considered a threat with perhaps rookie of the year front-runner Phillip Lindsay leading the charge. He’s had some cold games, but when he is on the Stars are pretty unbeatable. Their defense is pretty underrated as well. Don’t be surprised is the Stars figure out how to pull off a first round upset. 12. Iowa Threshers (8-8) – No. 3 Seed, Metropolitan Conference Iowa is also lucky to get into the playoffs. They have no wins over opponents with winning records and took advantage of having such an easy schedule and weak division, but they get a home game and a chance to compete. The Threshers actually have the best pass defense, this best pass rush and fifth best overall defense, so they can tighten up against opponents, but they need to get their offense going more than they have been. Week 16 Awards Offensive Player of the Week Defensive Player of the Week Special Teams Player of the Week Rookie of the Week Playoff Round 1 Preview 6. Boston Dragons (9-7) @ 3. Iowa Threshers (8-8) 5. Pittsburgh Forge (11-5) @ 4. Orlando Rockets (14-2) 6. Los Angeles Stars (8-8) @ 3. Nashville Renegades (11-5) 5. Oakland Odyssey (9-7) @ 4. New Orleans Nightmare (9-7) 2019 Superlatives Game of the Year: Week 8 – New Orleans Nightmare – 39 @ Pittsburgh Forge – 42 (OT) Upset of the Year: Week 16 – Michigan Stags – 30 @ Carolina Generals – 37 Offensive Performance of the Year: Defensive Performance of the Year: Special Teams Performance of the Year: Rookie Performance of the Year Draft Order (Non-Playoff Teams) 1. Jacksonville Stingrays (Expansion) Offseason Headlines Jacksonville and Sacramento expansion up to 32 End of an Era With an expansion to Sacramento and ownership of the Omaha Express, Dallas Hartwell will relinquish ownership of the Dallas Six-Shooters. Hartwell has run the Six-Shooters since 2002, when he joined the league and was co-owners with another long-time owner Chris Dunn. Hartwell gained full ownership the following season. Ownership shuffling Iowa to Buffalo Predators renamed |