Yeah, 34-9 is probably about right for the Wolflings to beat me. I might hope to at least get a bit closer to a 31-21 score, but I am not sure I can keep up with the Wolflings team just yet. We will find out Saturday! Great write up!

Had you not been a divisional rival, I would have shown you more love with the score. I need that PD in my favor as much as possible

I have signed up. My featured post isn't until later on in the season. Maybe I'll think of ways to contribute before then.

Understand that. I saw that game you beat Inbhir Narinn, and I was stunned big time, especially since Narinn beat me already this season. I see that blitzing is working for your lower ranked team, so I will have to figure out a way to beat that so that you don't beat too many higher ranked teams this year!

Seems as if both of our predictions were way off. Pulled out a much needed win against the Wolfings today!

Week 6

Thunder 1 Week 5 Review

Instanbul Sultans at Inbhir Narann

Inbhir Narann's (4-1) MLB Andrés Fuentes ran an early first-quarter interception back 43 yards for a touchdown and LB Hamilton Galloway registered 10 tackles and 5 sacks as the Instanbul Sultans (2-3) offensive line continues to struggle despite having 13 players listed at the position. They gave up 15 sacks total.

Bovakian masterfully managed his team to a 32-17 win despite only 10 first downs and 26 minutes of possession from the offense. LB Naor Ubarov added 5 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 interception as he continues his stellar play this season.

Next up:
Instanbul Sultans (2-3) vs St Neots Saints (0-4, bot)
Inbhir Narann (4-1) bye, then vs Boonley Bulldozers (4-1) week 7

Kokomo Mantis at Wolfings

The Wolfings (3-2) pass defense was more sheep-like against the Kokomo Matis (3-1) as they gave up 417 yards through the air. WR Alan Branch had 6 catches for 72 yards and 2 touchdowns, while WR Abel Vidal added 11 catches for 107 yards, 4 broken tackles and a touchdown himself for the Matis. The Wolfings receivers dropped 11 passes total in the 45-28 defeat.

51 seconds into the game Mantis trailed 7-0, then raced out to a 38-21 lead before halftime. By beating the Wolfings, and Chesterton Cheese (2-2) back-to-back, Tpal70 is carving out an early manager-of-the-year-award resume.

Next up:
Kokomo Mantis (3-1) vs Vicious Attack Dogs (4-1)
Wolfings (3-2) bye, then @ Totoras Patriots (1-4) week 7

Xu Da at Norfolk Dumplings

No Kadir Mansoor, no problem. In a close game for 3 quarters and some change, the Norfolk Dumplings (5-0) ran for 93 of their 176 rushing yards in the fourth quarter, to give them the 31-10 victory over Xu Da (2-3). Xu Da decided against testing the Dumplings secondary, despite one of Norfolk's best CB sitting this one out with an injury. Xu Da themselves did gain 131 rushing yards as a team, but it came on 34 carries for a 3.9 average.

34 minutes on the field wore down Xu Da's defense and Norfolk took full advantage late. FB Bernardo Leó finished with 101 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 23 attempts for a 4.4 average and RB Cyril Chindris added 2 scores as well. Dumplings offensive line combined for 115 pancakes.

Next up:
Xu Da (2-3) @ Ridge City Frogs (4-1)
Norfolk Dumplings (5-0) @ Boonley Bulldozers (4-1)

3 Games to Watch In Thunder 1- Week 6

(Current my pick record: 2-1)

Barossa Bulldogs (4-1) @ Istanbul Whitings (5-0)

The Barossa Bulldogs have won 2 straight, and are looking to put together their best season in Thunder 1 to date, as well as their first winning season. S30 second-round draft pick Darnell Moffitt leads the team with 448 receiving yards on 41 catches, and LB Ricky Styles has 25 tackles (7 missed), 2 sacks, 4 interceptions, and a defensive touchdown for the Bulldogs.

These two, although on different sides of the field will need to play together to pull out a victory in this matchup. Manager's waky53 offense will need to score for sure, and the defense will look to continue to give them extra possessions.

Looking for their first Thunder 1 division title since season 31, the Instanbal Whitings manager mezgitm has asked for the former Norfolk Dumplings QB Simeon Bock to make plays and prepare his mind for tough divisional matchups that cant be avoided in the AC South. So far he has delivered.

Completing 72% of his passes, Bock has complied 1,443 passing yards on 138 attempts while only seeing himself sacked 2 times. He has only 2 interceptions thrown and has tossed 10 of his 22 touchdowns to S30 first-round draft pick WR Tawfiq Naser, who has 326 of his 467 yards coming after the catch. These two will be looking to continue that chemistry knowing their defense is facing the #1 league offense so far this season. The Istanbul Whitings are the early favorites.

My pick: The Instanbul Whitings defense will make more 3rd down stops as they win 41 -21.

Cougars (3-1) @ Granville Skunks (5-1)

7 straight Thunder 1 AC West titles cannot erase the sting of a team that went 16-0 and lost in the conference championship last season. Manager bigjoe has had a full bye week to go over what went wrong in a 34-14 loss against the Jimmy GQ's Jockstraps (2-2).

Defensively, LB Jared Jensen has been nice with 12 tackles, 5 sackes, 2 interceptions, and 1 defensive touchdown. The offense force-feeds the ball to WR Gene Kaufman, who already has 76 catches and nine touchdowns. He has dropped the ball 17 times and gives the team a modest 7.4 average per catch and only 5 broken tackles.

The Granville Skunks are second in the league in sacks with 34, and manager vancouver has put LB Rex Nevarez (35 tackles, 12 sacks, 3 interceptions, 1 defensive touchdown) in position to win his first LB M.V.P. awards. They have also produced interceptions by 4 different cornerbacks so far this season and they will be tested by Gene Kaufman this matchup.

The running game has been very kind to the Skunks, and RB Vilim Jelínek has been a handful with 412 yards on 85 rushes, 19 broken tackles, and 2 touchdowns. The early predictions have the Granville Skunks as major underdogs.

My pick: bigjoe and the Cougars win the first-ever matchup between these two managers in a game closer than anticipated, comeback style 28 -27.

Norfolk Dumplings (5-0) @ Boonley Bulldozers (4-1)

Mr. Dumpling probably won't like his players being featured 2 weeks in a row, but with 9 wins between these two teams, I had no choice. I also feel the play of RB Cyril Chindris will be key in this game. He has 325 rushing yards and is only averaging 3.5 yards per carry. He has found the endzone 7 times and will need to again this matchup.

On the flip side of the ball, 6 million dollar investment DL Trent Abbott must take control early and often. He has 17 tackles against 1 miss, along with 9 tackles for a loss, 1 sack. 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery.

Off to a hot start, the Boonley Bulldozers are looking to build off their first NC North division title won a season ago. In this matchup, manager atqon has to be hoping for a big game from RB Aarne Oja who only has 253 rushing yards, but an impressive 5.1 average per carry with 3 touchdowns. The low touches is because you can expect up to 7 different players to carry the ball on game day.

If S25 3rd round LB Eemil Mähönen who has 2 picks this season can make plays in the passing game, the Bulldogs defense will present challenges. This game has a pick-em prediction.

My pick: The Bulldogs should win, especially at home, but they lose this one somehow, 23-18.

Bonus Inside Look: Meet The World Champions (0-5)

Manager jett64 will soon be approaching 15 months real-time in RZA. His only transfer market buy is already retired, making this team a team built on patience, draft picks, and youth academy player development.

S32- 2nd round pick WR Marcelino Holcomb is a player I hope we see making plays in the game cast for seasons to come. He has great speed with sticky fingers but could use more balanced training to avoid super high wages that don't produce the wage results. His stats so far this season: 26 catches for 268 yards, 2 touchdowns, 5 broken tackles, and 6 drops.

Jett64, welcome to the Thunder family!

Thunder 2 Early Access: Spitting Llamas

The Spitting Llamas managed by Herrpetllamas has been around since season 23 and will be looking to make another visit to Thunder 1. What should Thunder 1 expect? Passing. And a lot of it.

Lead by QB Deaven McAnuff and his 2,727 passing yards, 39 touchdowns- against 0 interceptions, this team makes no attempt to fool you on defense. Have a matchup against them? Better have cover corners, and a lot of blitzers!

What's happening with the Thunder Elite? : A Look At The Undefeated Kalapana Wild Thangs

After stizz managed his Kalapana Wild Thangs (2-2) to a 37-10 victory over notsch's Landru Athletics (2-3), they made it so that they are the only team in the Elite AC East that could still finish undefeated in the division.

Currently 1-0 in the division, nothing stands in the way now but beating the Athletics one more time, kicking the Basterds twice while they are down, and showing the Styrian Bears how all good things must come to an end. Should be doable.

Watch QB Tomas Steadman the rest of the way. He gets sacked (12 times so far), gets up, gives opponents the middle finger, and completes 69% of his passes. So far its lead to 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns against 3 interceptions. Wild indeed!

For Our Readers:

Can you answer the following?

1) What's the more likely outcome: Kalapana Wild Thangs finishing 1-5 in the division, or 6-0?
2) Will the Thunderbolts(4-1) finish with the top 3 linemen in pancakes for 2 seasons in a row?
3) Are there any ideals for me to give to Cheesehead for his global article? My agreed upon global article isn't due to close to seasons end.

Lets hear, umm, read your voices Thunder! Wait... umm... Press the reply or quote button and type something!

great article buddy for someone thats not in thunder or other leagues with guys doing articles its great way to get upto speed on whats happening out there whilst devoting my time to dragons goings on.

not really upto speed on thunder but in regards to your questions

1/ive heard of other 3 treams in that division not heard much of wild things but they made solid start if 3-3 was an option id go there,but from options available id say they would finish 1-5 in division

2/yeah sure why not they have number 1 rush ofence so they are committed to running behind that big old unit,top 3 blockers for sure,maybe even sweey top 5

3/no ideas at this point unfortunately


keep up the good work

This is great stuff mate. If I had seen it earlier (I'm weekend away with our family) I might have posted this a global article. The idea is for the whole of RZA to get more knowledge of each other's division.

And I am always interested in stats...

Might as well add a 4th game to watch in Thunder 1 this week:

Kokomo Mantis (3-1) vs Vicious Attack Dogs (4-1)

Not much to watch here except that the Vicious Attack Dogs are also carving out a nice manager of the Year award winning season with their first year in Thunder 1. This should be a good game to watch. My prediction is a dog fight of a game, with a score of 42-38. I won't predict a winner as it could come down to the final play of the game in this one!

Our game couldn't make the initial cut. I would have loved to preview it. That said, if I had, my predictions would be you beating me fairly easily. 38- 16 sounds fair. I still see myself finishing with a losing record (6-10 or 7-9), once the grind of the schedule presents itself.