The Spartans got over one hump last year by finally making the playoffs, and this year they made it over another one. The Spartans picked up their first playoff win with a strong outing, but there was some suspense to the victory. The Spartans trailed heading into Sunday Night, but got their two biggest outputs between that night and Monday as the Pittsburgh defense scored 23 and Antonio Bryant went off for 31 points. The Spartans needed all of it as the Bulldogs had a strong performance as well. As for Mill Creek, the new owner dropped their first playoff shot, but their effort was #4 this week and nearly pulled out the upset.
El Paso Bandits 121.73 over Toronto Argonauts 80.34
Never before had the Bandits beaten the Argonauts. In fact, the last time the Bandits were in the playoffs, they dropped the Conference Championship to their division rivals. They finally beat the Argonauts and now look forward to coming through again next week. The Bandits can thank their 20 point efforts from Phillip Rivers and the Arizona D this week which combined with solid production from the rest of the lineup for the big week. Toronto's agonizing season finally ends with this tough divisional loss and they did not pan out to be the overwhelming favorite they appeared to be in the pre-season. Instead, after the Argonauts lost Tom Brady, they had some inconsistent play from guys like Larry Johnson, Marion Barber and Tony Gonzalez. Although the season ended poorly, the addition of Peyton Hillis mid-season means this team could have 5 starting RB's next year to go with that already ridiculously good reciver group.
AABC's divisional winning streak ended last week, and just like that a new one could begin now. Vilma really had no shot this week as AABC just went off. Four guys scored more than 15 with two of them over 25. AABC scored 8 touchdowns this week which is a 48 point bonus on top of great yards and receptions this week. AABC has never made the Super Bowl, but has only lost to one team in the playoffs, and they just made an early exit. As for Vilma, their first trip to the playoffs in four years was rough, and all over the world people heard their owner cursing Willis McGahee. However, it was a decent week, but when a team goes for 150+, there's just nothing that can be done.
Denver Roncos 80.85 over Flaming Stewies 71.18
This matchup was the dud of the week as the only matchup without a 100 point scorer. In fact, neither team came close, but teams take a win in the playoffs any way they can get it. The Roncos were not terribly impressive this week, but Roddy White came through as the MVP of this matchup with 18 points. Past White and Ryan Grant, this team underperformed this week and will look for much better protection with more favorable matchups next week. As for the Stewies, their loss means there will be a new NFC Champion for the first time ever. Their streak ends and their title defense comes to a close with a horrible outing which was only saved by Steve Smith and the Baltimore D. Past their 38 total points, the rest of the team managed just 33 with the next highest scorer going for 7 points. Everyone on this squad got shut down in a big way and the Stewies now have some work to do for next season.
The best regular season team in the league did it with 38 points tied behind their back. Tied behind their back meaning benching 38 points from Dominic Rhodes and Tashard Choice, but with Pierre Thomas and Maurice Jones-Drew, Rhodes and Choice were not really needed. Also coming through was starting QB Tyler "Holy-shit-how-did-he-get-good" Thigpen with 15 points. After four years of disapointment, including two NFC Championship game losses, AABC has finally reached their first Super Bowl and will be just the second team to represent the NFC in the big game. As for the Roncos, a disapointing week in the divisional round was enough, but AABC rarely loses to teams that score under 90. Bottom line this week, there just was not enough production from the RB duo of Ryan Grant and Clinton Portis. With Grant's decline this year, look for them to address the RB's this off-season.
For the second time in the playoffs, the Bandits beat a team they have never beaten before. The Bandits had another great week, riding Marques Colston, Calvin Johnson and Michael Turner to victory. This was the second trip to the AFC title game for the Bandits franchise, and their first win for their first Super Bowl berth. The Spartans did not make it easy, as they nearly came back with a good day from Kevin Curtis on Monday night which fell 3 points short of the comeback. For the Spartans, they had great days from Antonio Bryant and David Garrard, but were ultimately done in by their two Giants, Plaxico Burress and Brandon Jacobs. Two key players all year went missing late and could have been the difference this week. Instead, the Bandits enjoy their champagne bath as they look to continue the Cinderella story next week as they face the top seed from the NFC.
Cinderella story. One in a million. Came from nowhere to win it all. That sums up the Bandits season as they posted huge point totals every week with one final blowout in the Super Bowl. Four players went off for over 15, two finished with more than 25 points as the Bandits set a record for the most points in the Super Bowl. The dominating playoff run came as a surprise since this team finished in the cellar the past two years and did not appear to have much different chances at the start of this year. However, some break out years from new aquisitions helped the Bandits make the playoffs and dominate throughout. AABC and their very respectable 116 did not have a chance against the onslaught as nobody was going to stop the Bandits in 2008.