There’s still some heavy breathing into paper bags whenever those responsible think about the head scratching decisions made by the OC in the game against the Kraken yesterday. The questions of what could have been if the SEA LIONS would have gone into half time leading will very likely never cease until the very end of this season. They had a great opportunity and failed, thus not only losing the game, but the #6 seed as well. Now they have to rely on their opponents in the playoffs race to lose games, which always is an unpleasant situation as they do not have their fate in their own hands anymore.

However: Three quarters of the season are done. Let’s again have a look at how these situations look right now in each division, with four games to go in which at least two are divisional match-ups for everyone.

AC East

The Prairie Dogs continued their dominance this past week and won both their games, thus cementing their playoff spot at the #2 spot of the AC conference. The other teams in this division are .500 or below and fight for the right to play another season in the Elite, with the Deflators having a 2-game-lead on 3rd place, but also a 2-game-deficit on seed #6 in the conference.

AC North

The TigerCats are sitting atop the North and at seed #3 in the conference with a 2-game lead over the Grail Knights at #2 in their division and the Magpies at #4 in the conference. Below the cut in the North are the Fargo Knights and the Braska Bangers 09, and it would need some truly miraculous miracles for them to avoid relegation.

AC South

The Yorkies are still unbeaten and sit atop the South as well as the conference. In their division two more teams, the Sydney Sea Eagles and the Diorite Lions, are above .500 and currently complete the playoff picture in the AC conference at seeds #5 and #6. The Saker Falcons at #4 in the South still have chances to stay in the Elite, too, but those are slim.

AC West

It’s a head-to-head between the Magpies and Melittlemen for the crown of the West in the AC, with both teams being .500 and only separated by 8 points. Both are 2 games behind the #6 seed, so only the winner is likely to join the playoffs. VenoM is still in striking distance for staying Elite with two games behind, meeting both teams for the second time in the upcoming games. With having lost both games this week it’s pretty safe to say that the ChosenOnes will join the Admirals league next season.

NC East

The Mandos lead this division and will very likely win it, having a 3-game-lead over the mystics at 2nd place. The latter lead with 4 games over the Mavericks, so the second team to be relegated can be decided on coming game day when those two meet. Definitely gone are the Alpin Ducks, and we thank them for everything.

NC North

In the North the teams to be relegated down to the Monarchs region are already decided, as the Ruhrpott Miners and the Leverkusen Leopards have no chance to make up the deficit to the Dublin Oilers at 2nd place anymore. The Kraken leads with one game over the Oilers, but both teams are seeded for the playoffs. As of now the seeds #1 - #3 are all 10–2 in the NC conference, so both still can get to #1 in the remaining games.

NC South

The Blitz, sitting atop the South with a 2-game-lead, are very likely to play another season in the Elite (Surprise!!!). They even lead the conference, but only due to point differential by 14 over the Chelt Nam Bobbers at seed #2. Behind the Blitz the Elephants jumped to seed #6 in the conference yesterday due to winning against the Grail Knights and the competition losing. Raspberry Bush is now 2 games behind, the Zombaes would have to make up 3 games to stay another season.

NC West

The Chelt Nam Bobbers regained their footing after two losses in a row, although it was a narrow victory by 1 point over the Olivos. But due to the SEA LIONS losing against the Kraken they have a 2-game lead again and are likely to win the division. The SEA LIONS are on track to stay in the ELITE for another season, but their participation in the playoffs is quite unsure now as they have an unfavorably low PD to break any ties. The Olivos still have slim chances to catch the SEA LIONS, Pizti is very likely playing in the Dragons region again next season.

To start the stretch of the last four games of this season we'll have our second encounter with the Pizti Beltzak today.

It's only the second time to ever play them in a league meeting, as we did not play in the same league with them as of this season. They were our first opponent on game day one, and we were lucky to score a TD in the final minute of regulation, then kick a FG on our first possession in overtime to win the game.

As with the Leopards from the NC North it's strange to see such a good team struggle this mightily, but Pizti has gotten better over the course of the last games, so it'll be another tough game for us today in which we can hopefully push aside the weakness we somehow show in our home games.

Good luck for everyone today

Pizti Beltzak's profile shows 100% morale

I don't know how my players are doing, but it's obvious that I'm not at 100% morale because we have nothing at stake in these remaining games of season 55.

But that doesn't mean that we won't give our best every game and we don't rule out upsetting some team (starting today)

Good luck and enjoy

Wow man, that hit you right in the face today

Same scenario, different winner

I'm getting this again, anyone else?

Today the delay was 50 minutes.

Your delay was 67 minutes

The more we are into the regular season, the longer it takes. it is the compilation of rush/pass-offense/defense stats for the league tables.

Congratulation on the win, HH_KMN.

After the 1st quarter I thought 'OK, that's nice', after the 2nd 'Still wide open' and then the things did fall apart.

Lucky me the typical 2 turnovers came in garbage time.

I know it won't comfort Chrill, but the Week 1 loss hurt me more than this one has made me happy.

The standings leave no doubt: Pizti Beltzak are not yet at Elite level. We'll keep working.