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  Velcro and Teflon PredictBy: Teflon and Velcro. |
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Week 8 Teflon: The observant and loyal readers of this column (is there anyone out there? anyone at all?) will have noticed that I missed a week completely. Not that it would have made a difference, for who would have predicted the lowly Claymores crushing the Fire? Anyway, I'm going to give it another shot today. Claymores @ Admirals Teflon: It is tempting to just pick your own team in cases like this. But that would make this a pointless read. I am still going to pick my own team, but for some actual reasons... The Admirals passing game has been clicking the past two games, Hill and Hatchette make a great combination. Scotland does not have a good passing defense. This year, they also do not have a dominating D-Line, so our O-Line should have a fair chance of keeping the pash rush away from Hill and giving Hatchette the chance to play merry hell with the Claymores' secondary. Both teams should be fully aware that whoever loses this match, is out of the WB. There would still be a tiny, theoretical chance of getting into a weird tiebreaker based on points scored, but thats a very very remote possibility. Basically, this is a play-off game! So lets give the Claymores a reason to cry in their beers please, Andrus... Velcro: No explanation. Teflon says: Admirals Velcro says: Admirals Galaxy @ Dragons Teflon: I am supposed to be able to give a sensible prediction of the outcome of this match? Alright: Dragons beat Galaxy, because they are better. And the Fire beat the Claymores last week for the same reason and Ill be winning the lottery next year. Velcro: Too lazy to send in actual comments. Teflon says: How-the-F***-should-I-Know-Dragons Velcro says: Dragons. Thunder @ Fire Teflon: Aah, this is a lot easier. The Fire will be absolutely humiliated after their thrashing last week and want to take it out on someone. The hapless Thunder in this case. Im going out on a limb here and say that I am glad it is not the Admirals going to be on the receiving end of this can of payback whup-ass. Velcro: Thinks the wheels have come off the Fire's season... Teflon says: Fire Velcro says: Thunder Week 6 Rhein Fire @ Amsterdam Admirals Teflon: An absolute must-win for the Admirals. If they lose this game, then there is only a tiny, theoretical chance left to make the WB. Can they win it? Result from the game in Dusseldorf would suggest that they can. Effect of playing at home should not be great, the Fire are used to a loud stadium themselves. If the Admirals can stop the run, they have a good chance. I'm going with the theory that Andrus can convey the importance of this match to his team during the week... Velcro: Nothing received. Teflon says: Admirals Velcro says: Fire Frankfurt Galaxy @ Scottish Claymores Teflon: The Claymores have sucked these past few weeks, plain and simple. But the Galaxy managed to screw up a lot against the Fire. I still don't see the Claymores beating this team though. Velcro: Nothing received. Teflon says: Galaxy Velcro says: Claymores Berlin Thunder @ Barcelona Dragons Teflon: No! No! No! Painful flashback again. The Thunder are crap. They should not have won. Seriously though, the Dragons are the more competent team, a win this week would all but assure a WB spot. Bicknell is a good coach, he can motivate his bunch and not let them get distracted. Velcro: Nothing received. Teflon says: Dragons Velcro says: Thunder Week 5 Teflon: Right, we officially blow chunks at predicting NFL-E games. If it had not been for my weird gut-feeling, I would have had all three wrong again, like Velcro (sorry, just had to rub it in). So I came up with a new method for this week. I will write down my personal arguments for selecting one team over the other. Then I will just flip a coin and make my actual prediction based on that. Frankfurt Galaxy @ Rhein Fire Teflon: Galaxy lost concentration against the Admirals and that, more than anything (139 yards in penalties!) is what cost them the game. A decent coach can fix that in a week. However, they will be facing a pumped up Fire team at a pumped up Fire stadium. Still, the Fire proved they are not much to write home about (yet?) by getting beat in a low scoring stinker in Barcelona (and a stinker it was... 25 total penalties!). I still think the Fire can put one over on their bitter rivals though. Let's see what my coin thinks... Fire as well! Velcro: Nothing received. Teflon's coin says: Fire Velcro says: Fire Barcelona Dragons @ Scottish Claymores Teflon: The Claymores aren't fooling anyone by beating what is shaping up to be the worst team in NFL-E and WLAF history since the Skyhawks. The Dragons have a solid team, not a great team, but a solid team. This one will go to whoever can contain the running game best. Personally, I think that will be the Dragons. My coin does not agree, however. Velcro: Nothing received. Teflon's coin says: Claymores Velcro says: Dragons Amsterdam Admirals @ Berlin Thunder Teflon: Can Amsterdam do the impossible and again be the first team that is beat by what should be the laughing stock of the league (Berlin's first season) ? I doubt it. I think Vaas' magic has run out and this year they will continue sucking. As long as Andrus manages to keep the team from being overconfident, this should not be too hard. Even my coin agrees. Velcro: Nothing received. Teflon's coin says: Admirals Velcro says: Admirals Week 4 Frankfurt Galaxy @ Amsterdam Admirals Teflon: Perhaps I should be less negative, but I have recovered from my post-Barcelona gloom (couple of pitchers of Sangria helped with that) and still cannot see a reasonable way for this team to beat the Galaxy. There are problems everywhere: tackling, special teams, pass protection, play calling... We might take another win or two, but I don't think it will be this weekend. Velcro: This is a no-brainer? Unless the Admirals can get their heads out of their collective asses then this could be another one of those long days we seem to suffer all to often against the Galaxy. The Admirals must improve on offense to get up on an opponent and snuff them out. We need to be aggressive, not cute if we are gonna win the game. The Galaxy are currently 3-0, although their win in Scotland was very scrappy. Right now Prediction Galaxy. Teflon says: Galaxy Velcro says: Galaxy Rhein Fire @ Barcelona Dragons Teflon: I have seen the Dragons play twice and was unimpressed the first time and thought them fairly good the second. The Fire seems to have recovered from week 1 and are firing (bad pun...) on all cylinders now. I am going with Burgundy. Velcro: The Admirals gift-wrapped this one for the Dragons, so I'm still not convinced they are a particularly good team. The Fire didn't impress against the Admirals, but last week against the Claymores they showed that their running game was coming together. I smell an upset here. Prediction Fire. Teflon says: Fire Velcro says: Fire Scottish Claymores @ Berlin Thunder Teflon: Berlin have sucked three games in a row, the Claymores came crashing down to earth after their week 1 weirdness. Going into this game, it seems likely to be the stinker of the week. Still... I am not ruling out Vaas quite yet. So it will seem extra odd that I am actually going with the Silver and Blue. No good reasons, just my gut feeling. Velcro: Berlin 0-3, now where have we heard that before? Never write off Berlin, especially with the Claymores record in Germany. It may well be time for Henry Burris to torch a secondary that has not proved impressive thus far. Scotland has an impressive Quarterback in Craig Nall, but he seems to have the same offensive woes that we have in Amsterdam. My Pick, Berlin to pick up its firrst win of the year and start improving right before they play the Admirals. Prediction Thunder, a German Clean Sweep. Teflon says: Claymores Velcro says: Thunder Week 3 Amsterdam Admirals @ F.C. Barcelona Dragons Teflon: After I got over my bitter disappointment (drank some more) and examined the stats, it became clear to me that the Admirals were the better team in every important category. Except the scoreline. Andrus also mentioned at the press conference that the fact that TE Ryan Collins could not play had hurt them in what they could do offensively. So to be honest, I am not worried yet. We should actually be able to beat the Dragons if we play a similar game to last weekend. Velcro: The rematch of the very disappointing game last weekend in the Amsterdam ArenA. Amsterdam actually dominated the game in the majority of statistical categories. If the Offense can stay on the field longer and score some points then we should overwhelm the anaemic Barcelona Offense. This means that the offense needs to open up. A possible change to David Rivers may not solve all of the Admirals problems, but a fresh breath on the offensive side of the football may be what is needed. If the Admirals play the way they can then it's the Admirals who ensure that the Dragons lose. Teflon says: Admirals Velcro says: Admirals Berlin Thunder @ Frankfurt Galaxy Teflon: Thunder are 0-2 and fairly convincingly lost both of those games. Galaxy are undefeated, although they did not dominate. I have not seen these teams play, so I just have to go by season so far and homefield advantage. Both of those favor purple. Velcro: Berlin is now the only team I haven't seen, and are 0-2. The 2-0, but still unimpressive offensively Frankfurt team should dominate the game with a good strong front seven on defense. The secret to beating them is for the QB to buy time to let the coverage breakdown - a plan that let Scotland open the game effectively last weekend. Sorry to say, but advantage Galaxy. Teflon says: Galaxy Velcro says: Galaxy Scottish Claymores @ Rhein Fire Teflon: The Claymores came back to earth after their record setting scoring spree in week 1. The Fire did not impress against the Admirals, but beat Berlin convincingly. Still, they did it with the run, which is not an obvious weakness of the Claymores. A difficult pick this game, so I apply my usual principle: when in doubt, go with homefield advantage. Velcro: Well I've seen both teams lose, can the Fire keep up Sunday's performance or will the Scots manage to re-awaken the week 1 performance? The holes on Scotland are Special Teams and a weak pass defense. The Fire doesn't have a great passing attack and their Special Teams are just as weak, so they cancel out. This time at the Schalke Arena I see the Fire pulling it out. Prediction Fire. Teflon says: Fire Velcro says: Fire Week 2 F.C. Barcelona Dragons @ Amsterdam Admirals Teflon: An uninspired performance last week against what seems to be a mediocre Galaxy team. This week they go to Bicknell's favorite place in the whole wide world... Even though the Admirals need serious help on kickoffs and punts, they should be able to win fairly comfortably this week. Velcro: Well one thing is for sure this week, the Admirals offense wonīt have to worry about the noise that the Dragons fans make. John and Monste donīt shout too much, so only a couple of Monarchs to worry about. If you see any of them yelling - buy them a beer, that will make them be quiet. This Amsterdam team is showing some promise. With the wideout strength that we have then the Admirals really should try to strech the field more and thus create some more running room. The only question is what will they manage to accomplish against this Barcelona Team that only narrowly lost to the Galaxy. The Galaxy QBs were held to a combined rating of 40.8, but they were just horrible. With both David Rivers and Shaun Hill able to move the ball at times last week, advantage Admirals. The Dragons can run the ball averaging 5 yards a carry but couldnīt make much head way passing the ball, 86 yards in 21 attempt, so it comes down to the Admirals Defense stopping a Dragons running attack. We are at home, and have two clutch kickers. There are just two many thing sgoing the way of the Admirals in this one. Prediction Admirals, and thus the Dragons get to keep the Toilet Bowl. Teflon says: Admirals Velcro says: Admirals Rhein Fire @ Berlin Thunder Teflon: The Thunder were pretty pants last week in Scotland, but so were the Fire agains the Admirals. Berlin did manage to score 31 points however, while the Fire managed to miss an extra point. I'm going out on a limb here and predict a Thunder victory. Velcro: The Thinder canīt stop the passing game, but that doesnīt matter as the Fire canīt throw and they canīt catch. If the Thunder can somehow play the first half twice, they did score 31 points in a half that resembled Arena Ball last week they should score more points than the Fire. The Fire themselves could find themselves in trouble quickly if they canīt get a passing game going. Peter Vaas maintains that his defense is the best heīs ever had - well in that case they must be plenty angry - again Iīll take home advantage. Teflon says: Thunder Velcro says: Thunder Frankfurt Galaxy @ Scottish Claymores Teflon: The Dragons were supposed to be the worst team coming out of camp, yet the Galaxy struggled mightily against them at home. The Claymores just slapped the Thunder silly with 62 points. You do the math... Velcro: The game that closed out last yearīs Triple Header, and what a shocker of a game that was. Scotland set all sorts of records that day for a miserable offense. What a turnaround for them last week as the Claymores lit up the scoreboard with a league record 62 points that included a 93 yard TD run from running back Ken Siminton. My spy in the stands isnīt yet ready to annoint them as World Bowl favourites, but a repeat against the "cannae pass fur toffee" Frankfurt offense could have them in the driving seat after two home games. Whats worse for the Galaxy is that they canīt stop the run and when Mr Siminton has scored 4 TDs already, that could spell a long day for the Galaxy D. Sometime numbers donīt lie - and this is one of those times. Prediction Claymores. That said it wonīt be a blowout as Iīll be there and my record of seeing crappy games in Scotland shall comtinue. Teflon says: Claymores Velcro says: Claymores Week 1 F.C. Barcelona Dragons @ Frankfurt Galaxy Teflon: The Dragons were unimpressive in camp, according to all the reports I have seen and the Galaxy are playing at home. I'm going with homefield advantage here. Velcro: All through camp the Galaxy have been struggling to put any kind of passing game together. Jame Brown will get the start, after warming the bench for the Claymores last season. As always with Doug Graber teams you can be assured of a solid defense. The big question really in Frankfurt is how the reduced capacity of the Waldstadion will affect the fans. There are questions about ticket availability already and if the noisy fans donīt show it could be a very different stadium from previous years. The Dragons, who havenīt won a World Bowl since the John Kita led version in 1997 will be hoping to pickup on their odd-year streak with a return to the championship game. Stories till now have been few and far between about the Dragons, but that said the passing woes of the Galaxy is just too big a hurdle for a team to overcome. Teflon says: Galaxy Velcro says: Dragons Berlin Thunder @ Scottish Claymores Teflon: Although they've won two WBs in a row, everyone starts with a clean slate and a totally new squad each year. The Claymores impressed everyone in camp and must be fired up to play the WB at home. Look for Berlin to improve each week as they have the last few years, but I don't see them winning yet. Velcro: Two time defending World Bowl Champions are going for a 3-peat. Can they do it? I hope not, for the sake of the league. However a fool and his money are easily parted and Peter Vaas seems to have worked out how to play in this league. That said he has done well on the injury front in the past 2 years so maybe his luck is just due to run out. Scotland are seeking to play at home in the World Bowl and definitely need to get off to a quick start as they play their first two games at home. Craig Nall, a late addition in camp will start as the QB having been the 3rd stringer in Green Bay last year, and Chicago Bears 3rd stringer Henry Burris for the Thunder gives this game a feel of the Monster of the Midway clashes. The late loss of DT Rohaun Matthews (Admirals 2001) will hurt the Thunder defense. Scotland Desparate in week 1 against a normally slow starting Thunder, I just got to pick the Scots. Teflon says: Claymores Velcro says: Claymores Amsterdam Admirals @ Rhein Fire Teflon: A new Arena for the Fire... if they come close to the predicted 40.000 people and if they make even half the noise as they did in Rheinstadion, then we will finally be outclassed as noisiest stadium in the league. Homefield advantage has always counted heavily in the Fire's favor. I don't see me breaking my 'Fire-away-game' losing streak yet... Velcro: Weīve all followed Amsterdam through camp and it looks like another promising Admirals Squad. Simply put, for the Admirals to have a successful season they have to cut the injuries. In the last two years they have put more than thirty guys on Injured Reserve. Already Ryan Collins (All-NFLE at Tight End a year ago) is on that list. Shaun Hill has been in camp from the start and should fit Bart Andrusīs offense well. Both Justin Skaggs and Matthew Hatchette have NFL experience on the outside so the generally soft Fire defense (bend but donīt break) may work in the Admirals favour. I only hope that Bart discovers a running game early in the season to take the pressure off the QB sometimes. On defense the apparent shift to a 3-4 should complicate things for the Fire offense, which by camp account boasts its typical strong running game. The unknown here is the Fire Passing Game against the Admirals Secondary. Iīm going with a hunch that this streak is going to reach 4, Gelsenkirchen or no Gelsenkirchen. This also is in keeping with league tradition as no team has ever won its first game after changing stadium. (Admirals to ArenA, Claymores to Hampden and Dragons to mini Nou Camp). Teflon says: Fire. Velcro says: Admirals |
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