I've talked to my players and told them that there is to be no more talk of a 10 win season until we get to 10 wins. In RZA, nothing is given, not even a BOT!

Game Week 3!

I was 7/7 for my predictions last week so let's see how I get on tomorrow!

Duluth Eskimos (491) v Stocazzo (485)

An interesting match up between these two. Stocazzo seem to be stronger on paper but they have been disappointing so far this season. In week one the struggled against a bot narrowly winning by a 2 point margin, while last week they succumbed to Bubble Bobble. They are at home tomorrow so that may give them a little boost.

Duluth Eskimos are 0-2 but they had a tough start losing by two points to Drew Warriors before losing to one of the league favourites in the Vicious Attack Dogs. Despite losing they did make a good account of themselves, only to be undone by 5 turnovers. The key stat last week was restricting the Dogs to 1.9 yards/carry over 46 attempts. Stocazzo are very rush dependant so if the Eskimos' rush defense can come up with another performance like that they should walk away with the W.

Prediction: A low scoring game but comfortable for the Eskimos

goats (603) v St Neots Saints (599)

These two divisional rivals met twice last season with the side playing at home winning. So will the trend continue here with the Saints picking up a home win?

Both have picked up impressive wins so far this season; goats v Budapest Wolves and Saints v Tampa Bay Thunder. Like the game above I think this may come down to the Saints defense, however I'm looking at their Passing D this time. They picked up Abedi Hobbs in the first round this season but at FS I'm not sure how much of an impact he will have. Goats have a new and improved OL this season which should give their QB more time and space in the pocket but with so many new additions they will take time to gel.

Prediction: I think the trend will continue with a Saints home win in a high scoring game. Goats are coming into the game with 86TC, 66Moral and 88PC so the Saints are just a bit sharper. If this game was 2-3 weeks later I think the goats would have won.

Montreal Dragons (628) v Fredericksburg Comanches (559)

The Montreal Dragons have put up (a frankly ridiculous) 17 TDs v human teams in 2 games. Their offense looks so so strong. They invested a lot in QB Enrique Kenny towards the end of last season so they have a solid set of QBs which I think will overpower the Comanches.

Prediction: A Dragons win.

Palmas Hunters (599) v World Champions (660)

Another matchup where the two teams faced each other twice last season. This time the away team proved victorious on both occasions. And the games were decided by 3 and 4 points respectively so expect another close game here!

The Hunters appear to have figured out the formula to stop the Champions's offense and have restricted them well in both games, in fact the game they lost was decided by a kick return.

The Hunters spent big at the beginning of last season and by now those players will have gelled well with their teammates. I also feel the Hunters have drafted slightly better having picked up 2 OL and 1 RB. Their improved O along with their historically dominant D should give them the edge here.

Prediction: I'm again sticking with the trend here and going for an away win for the Hunters. I do also believe the gap will be slightly bigger than last seasons games.

Thang Long Warriors (751) v Vicious Attack Dogs (576)

Another interesting fixture and divisional match up. On paper the Warriors have everything they need to beat the Dogs, but they are still plagued by financial issues they just cannot seem to shake off. If this was played in 2 weeks I think the baliffs would have done enough damage to make this an easy Dogs win but as it stands the Warriors still have a strong roster...

The Dogs' new QB coach should be starting to settle into his new role now so the negative impact of a new coach won't be as pronounced, they also have home advantage and have looked impressive in the opening two weeks whereas the Warriors struggled last week against the Alligators.

There is a great race for top spot in AC East with three candidates so this match will give us a better indication of where the teams are at in their title bids.

Prediction: Another win for the Dogs as they continue to hold top spot of the AC East.

Good luck everyone!

I had my doubts and thought you would be wrong about this one. Good call. I played better than expected.

(Quick question! Are you a returning RZA user not revealing his former identity?)

I'm a returning manager. I played under the same team, Dublin Dragons, for about 4-5 seasons back in season 20-something but in Sea Devils.

You played well! It was one of the games I wasn't sure of because their rating is still super high for Thunder 2 but I had faith!

This week we are playing eachother but I think Cheesehead's predicition in the mag will be right

Ah Sea Devils. Not the worst League in RZA but definitively not Thunder

I had a scare today. The BOT did actually have better team stats then me so it was even an upset on paper for me to win.

Wolves also lost to a bot so maybe they are a lot tougher than they used to be!

And Fredericksburg Comanches are looking quite good. They were very comfortable against a solid Dragons team on Saturday...

Guys and Gals, Bots aren't setup like they used to be. Bots now keep their same players for a while immediately after they go BOT. Takes them long while to lose all the players and coaches and bankrupt themselves, so please scout all Bots in the future so you don't continue losing to them.

that explains a lot Indeed I did vaguely remember something about this, thanks for the heads up, thanks!

I might have to start adding bots to my predictions

Week 4!

Dublin Dragons (519) v Vicious Attack Dogs (591)

These divisional rivals met twice last season with the Dogs winning comfortably on both accounts and I don't think it'll get any easier for the Dragons today.

They face the most productive QB in the league, Cory Gasana, who has 915 yards to match his 10 TDs. They have hired a new CB coach to try improve the leagues 26th best pass defence, but even if they manage to keep the Dog's offence off the field they will face the league's 3rd best pass rush. It will be a long day!

The Dog's are in fine form as detailed above. In week's win v the Warriors they forced 5 picks and 4 sacks. Expect to see another fine defensive performance here as they reclaim top spot from the Bluebirds.

Prediction: Dogs to win comfortably.

Duluth Eskimos (502) v Thang Long Warriors (737)

It doesn't get any easier to predict the Warriors. As I've said it nearly every week now - they are frightning on paper, but troubled by off field issues. Their morale is now down to 39% and it's been 10 days since porky has shown up for work which is worrying

They struggled last week against the Dogs and now they face the Eskimos. The Eskimos may be 1-2 but they have performed well in the games they lost. The Eskimo's don't have the same defensive production as the dogs, who were happy to pick off the Warrior's at will. Eskimo's are yet to force and interception and have 1 sack. Will they allow the Warrior's too much time to pick their passes?

Prediction: It will be close, but home advantage sneaks it for the warriors.

Montreal Dragons (629) v Nashville Renegades (608)

Nashville came out on top after these two met in the wildcard game last season, but the final score didn't tell the full story. Dragon's had more time on the ball, more passing yards, more rushing yards and were the better team overall. They were their own worst enemy giving away a pick 6 and a punt return that left their opponent in the red zone. Not to mention their kicker missing 5 field goals!

After the defeat they invested heavily in the off season as they look to reach the playoffs again. The dragon's were disappointing last week v Fredericksburg Comanches but so too were the Renegades in week 1.

Prediction: A comfortable win for the Dragons.

Palmas Hunters (604) v Budapest Wolves (783)

Palma Hunters are another team looking to go 4-0 this week. They were impressive last week and have generally been solid. It's hard to judge their performances against bots in the first two weeks, but we only need to look at Wolve's result last week to see how dangerous bots can be!

To compound Wolves' problems on and off the field, manager janos hasn't been seen in over a week so I can't see them getting anything from today's game.

Prediction: A comfortable win for the Hunters.

St Neots Saints (608) v Spitting Llamas (722)

The league's #1 pass offence against the leagues #27 pass defence. We know the Llamas prefer to move the ball through the air but the numbers don't do the Saints any justice and today's game will have their DL licking their lips as we have the most open OL v the best pass rushing defence. Expect to see plenty of sacks and the Saints adding to their 2 interceptions as the Llamas' QBs struggle against the pressure.

Prediction: A high scoring game, but with Saints winning.

Good luck!

Hats off to the Dublin Dragons who played me tough this game. My Kicker does not have the best attributes but came through well enough to win game MVP for my team.

The passing game was completely shut down, but for the first time, I ran it well vs a human opponent. I did just pick up an upgraded RB coach, so maybe he made a bigger change than expected.

If the Dragons passing D is for real, that could throw a monkey wrench in my playbook going forward.

It will be interesting to see how we play this team on the road coming up later this season.